Human Computer
The term "computer", in use from the mid 17th century, meant "one who computes": a person performing mathematical calculations, before electronic computers became commercially available. Teams of people were frequently used to undertake long and often tedious calculations; the work was divided so that this could be done in parallel.
Since the end of the 20th century, the term "human computer" has also been applied to individuals with prodigious powers of mental arithmetic, also known as mental calculators. The first time the term "Computer" appeared in the New York Times was in May 2, 1892; the ad by the US Civil Service Commission stated:
- "A Computer Wanted. The examination will include the subjects of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and astronomy."
Read more about Human Computer: Origins in Astronomy, Wartime Computing and The Invention of Electronic Computing
Famous quotes containing the words human and/or computer:
“If we are a metaphor of the universe, the human couple is the metaphor par excellence, the point of intersection of all forces and the seed of all forms. The couple is time recaptured, the return to the time before time.”
—Octavio Paz (b. 1914)
“The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower.”
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