October 2000
Intermediate to advanced
400 pages
13h 30m
English
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Chapter 18. From Abaci to Chips
Throughout recorded history, people have invented numerous clever gadgets and machines in a universal quest to make mathematical calculations just a little bit easier. While the human species seemingly has an innate numerical ability, we also require frequent assistance. We can often conceive of problems that we can’t easily solve ourselves.
The development of number systems can be seen as an early tool to help people keep track of commodities and property. Many cultures, including the ancient Greeks and native Americans, seem to have counted with the assistance also of pebbles or kernels of grain. In Europe, this led to counting boards, and in the Middle East to the familiar frame-and-bead abacus:
Although commonly ...
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O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.Julian F.
I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.Addison B.
I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.Amir M.
I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.