What are computers?

What are computers?
	There is something about computers that is both fascinating and intimidating. They are fascinating when they are used in rocketry and space research, and when they enable man to get to the moon and back. Many people think of them as almost-human machines with 'brains' that allow them to think. After all, there are computers which play 'music' or 'speak'. On the other hand, we are inclined to be intimidated by their complex mechanisms and the involved scientific principles upon which they are built. In fact, computers do not have brains and they cannot really think for themselves. They are primarily machines for doing arithmetic. They are automatically controlled and do the work of many human beings at fantastically high speeds. The really important thinking is done by the humans who feed them with inl'ormation and program them to perform particular operations with the information they are given. Although primarily a calculating machine, the modern computer can also store up a vast mass of information. It can he programmed to carry out 'logical' operations, such as transferring certain information from one part of the machine to another, sorting this information and comparing it with other pieces of information or using it in arithmetical calculations. We hope this book will help you to understand how most of this is done.

Reproduced from "How it Works" Ladybird Series