History of Computing Science: The First Mechanical Calculator

An in-depth lecture and PowerPoint slideshow on the history of computing can be found here. It gives an overview of the advances in science that made desktop computers possible, starting with the invention of counting, to the...

Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher. He built the first mechanical calculator. This lecture presents a short treatment of his life and his accomplishments.

Computers are ubiquitous today. Step back in time and meet some of the early inventors of precursors to computers, and of the first computers.

The Harvard Mark I computer was the first large-scale automatic digital computer in the USA. This lecture provides a brief description of the Harvard Mark I computer.

This site contains a Wikipedia description of the history of computing hardware.

This narrative from the Wikipedia encyclopedia presents the major developments in the history of computing. It discusses the earliest devices used to perform calculations, the era of modern computing that began during World War II,...

This site describes the history of computer innovations beginning with early mechanical devices to the electronic devices of the 20th century.

Some say that Ada Lovelace was the first programmer because she wrote instructions for a computing device designed by Charles Babbage. This site presents a brief history of Ada's life and the important role she played in the history of...

The difference engine was never built, but its design was an important step in the history of computing devices. This lecture series presents a brief description of this early mechanical computing device.

This History of Computing lecture series presents a simple and clear description of the World Wide Web.