Calculate or Compute?
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I just assumed that "computing" was a recent phenomenon, and that we always used to "calculate". So I'm consulting some literature from the 1880's and they're "computing" here and there. So, I compared definitions and "calculating" indicates simplicity whereas "computing" indicates complexity. So, don't calculate when you should be computing.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
There's a reason why it's not called the Association of Calculating Machinery. :-D /ravi
My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com
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For a long time a "computer" was a person who computed. Before about 1960, if you worked for an insurance company for example, working out actuarial tables and the like, your job description might be "computer". [Computer (occupation) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer\_(occupation))
Keep Calm and Carry On
Then of course there are comptometers (from 1862) and their operators, comptometrists... ;)
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Gerry Schmitz wrote:
So, I compared definitions and "calculating" indicates simplicity whereas "computing" indicates complexity.
Calculating is human math. It is computing if you use a PC for that math. In the 1880's the term is correct; we even had humans computing in that era. Just posting, because you sound confused on the idea.
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
Your "explanations" are always a delight. Is crypto still "money"?
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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There's a reason why it's not called the Association of Calculating Machinery. :-D /ravi
My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com
The reason is very simple and is not at all word semantics-orientated. The Association for Computing Machinery is a given name. That's also why each word is capitalized. If given names were to follow semantics, Pres. Bidens son would be after deer each and every day.
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I just assumed that "computing" was a recent phenomenon, and that we always used to "calculate". So I'm consulting some literature from the 1880's and they're "computing" here and there. So, I compared definitions and "calculating" indicates simplicity whereas "computing" indicates complexity. So, don't calculate when you should be computing.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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I just assumed that "computing" was a recent phenomenon, and that we always used to "calculate". So I'm consulting some literature from the 1880's and they're "computing" here and there. So, I compared definitions and "calculating" indicates simplicity whereas "computing" indicates complexity. So, don't calculate when you should be computing.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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I just assumed that "computing" was a recent phenomenon, and that we always used to "calculate". So I'm consulting some literature from the 1880's and they're "computing" here and there. So, I compared definitions and "calculating" indicates simplicity whereas "computing" indicates complexity. So, don't calculate when you should be computing.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
Calculate and compute are synonyms, according to the dictionaries. Calculate ~~~~~~~~~ "(..)to judge the number or amount of something by using the information that you already have, and adding, taking away, multiplying, or dividing numbers(..)", source: The Cambridge Dictionary, 2022 "(..)to estimate or calculate by mathematics(..)", source: The Random House Amrican Dictionary, 1990 "(..)to estimate, enumerate, sum up, calculate(..)", source: Instant Synonyms and Antonyms, Bolander, Varner et al., 1970, 1988, Career Institute Inc "continued computing(..)", Siemens Dicitonary of Computing, 1970, Siemens GmbH Compute ~~~~~~~~ "(..)to calculate an answer or amount by using a machine", source: The Cambridge Dictionary, 2022 "to calculate", source: The Random House Amrican Dictionary, 1990 "(..)enumerate, figure, sum up, calculate(..)", source: Instant Synonyms and Antonyms, Bolander, Varner et al., 1970, 1988, Career Institute Inc "to calculate(..)", Siemens Dicitonary of Computing, 1970, Siemens GmbH
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I just assumed that "computing" was a recent phenomenon, and that we always used to "calculate". So I'm consulting some literature from the 1880's and they're "computing" here and there. So, I compared definitions and "calculating" indicates simplicity whereas "computing" indicates complexity. So, don't calculate when you should be computing.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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I just assumed that "computing" was a recent phenomenon, and that we always used to "calculate". So I'm consulting some literature from the 1880's and they're "computing" here and there. So, I compared definitions and "calculating" indicates simplicity whereas "computing" indicates complexity. So, don't calculate when you should be computing.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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Hmm, yes, but I would expect such a man to be a computor, his couterpart being a computrix. A computer would be an inanimate object.
Might be your expectation, but it doesn't match reality. See this from NASA or read the book/watch the movie "Hidden Figures."
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For a long time a "computer" was a person who computed. Before about 1960, if you worked for an insurance company for example, working out actuarial tables and the like, your job description might be "computer". [Computer (occupation) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer\_(occupation))
Keep Calm and Carry On
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Consider it brung.