CompTIA Strata IT Fundamentals All-in-One Exam Guide (Exam FC0-U41)

CHAPTER 1How Computers Work

In this chapter, you will learn how to

• Describe different types of computers

• Explain ways to use computers

• Describe how computers work

Charles Babbage didn’t set out to change the world. He just wanted to do math without worrying about human error, something all too common in his day. Babbage was a mathematician in the nineteenth century, a time well before anyone thought to create electronic calculators or computers (Figure 1-1). When he worked on complex math, the best “computers” were people who computed by hand. They solved equations using pen and paper.

Babbage thought of making machines that would do calculations mechanically, so the numbers would always be right. Although his ideas were ahead of his ...