Throughout history, the development of mathematical inquiry has gone hand-in-hand with the development of computers. Every advance in one has been followed immediately by an advance in the other. When humanity developed the concept of the base-ten counting system, the abacus was devised as a tool to make using it easier. When electronic computers were built which could solve complex equations, fields such as fluid dynamics, number theory, and chemical physics bloomed. This section of Computer Works` offers a brief history of the development of computers. It spans time from the development of the abacus, two and a half millennia ago, to the most recent advances in microtechnology. As so often happens in technological development, the advances are weighted more to recent years. When a field of research begins to grow, it tends to do so exponentially, so most of the entries here are within the past few hundred years. It is not possible to include the contributions of everyone, as many have faded into obscurity. Others made contributions which augmented the field of computer technology, but were not critical to its development. An attempt has been made, however, to include those milestones without which the field of computers could not have grown. It is hoped that, in doing so, a fair compromise has been reached.
