Newton, in notes that he would rather not have seen published, described a process for solving simultaneous equations that later authors applied specifically to linear equations. This method that Euler did not recommend, that Legendre called "ordinary," and that Gauss called "common" - is now named after Gauss: "Gaussian" elimination. Gauss's name became associated with elimination through the adoption, by professional computers, of a specialized notation that Gauss devised for his own least squares calculations. The notation allowed elimination to be viewed as a sequence of arithmetic operations that were repeatedly optimized for hand computing and eventually were described by matrices.

How Ordinary Elimination Became Gaussian Elimination

How ordinary elimination became Gaussian elimination

We report experimental demonstrations of contact-mode nano-electromechanical switches obtained using a capacitor module based on metal-insulator-metal configuration of a standard commercial complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology. The developed 2 terminals Titanium Nitride switches operate at low voltages (∼10 V) thanks to its small gap (27 nm), showing an excellent ION/IOFF ratio (104) and abrupt behavior (5 mV/decade, one decade of current change is achieved with a 5 mV voltage variation). A switch configuration is also presented where using two electrodes three different contact mode states can be obtained, adding functionalities to mechanical switches configurations.

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Nanomechanical switches based on metal-insulator-metal capacitors from a standard complementary-metal-oxide semiconductor technology

The bibliography contains nearly 750 annotated and indexed citations to papers, books, and other items relating to the origins of the modern electronic computer. The topics covered range from early digital calculating devices and mechanical automata to the first stored program computers. New entries were added up to June 1979.

An Annotated Bibliography on the Origins of Digital Computers

Because Howard H. Aiken expressed such an admiration for the ideas of Charles Babbage, the machine he conceived - brought into being through the engineering talents of IBM (the Mark I or ASCC) - is often cited as an example of Babbage's dream come true. This article explores the depth and extent of Aiken's knowledge of Babbage's ideas, the stage of his own thinking when he first encountered Babbage's writings, and the way in which he found out about Babbage.

Babbage and Aiken

A brief (25 page) history of mechanical computing machinery, from the abacus to Aiken's Mark I.

George C. Chase

Papers

History of Mechanical Computing Machinery

History of mechanical computing machinery