An accessible tech history for the IT professional in all of us
Overview: From Mechanical Arithmetic to Modern Computing
Transportation. Communication. Health and medicine. Few areas of modern life remain untouched by the power of computing technology. When we marvel at the spectacular innovations all around us — the very words I‘m typing now magically transmitted and displayed to you, perhaps continents away — we rarely stop to consider how it all began…
Over a century ago, long before electronics and integrated circuits, an ingenious pair of inventors — brothers, in fact — designed a series of wondrous machines to mechanize that most fundamental construct of mathematics: calculation. Their names were William and Hubert Hopkins, little-known today but towering figures of computer history nonetheless. Their patented adding machines and calculating devices foreshadowed key aspects of modern computing from user interfaces to mechanical programming.
In this article geared both for the IT professional and casual tech enthusiast alike, we‘ll explore:
- The Hopkins brothers‘ early exposure to mechanics and William‘s initial patents as a "tinkering minister"
- The runaway mainstream success of the Standard Adding Machine, which brought efficient digital calculation to early 20th-century workplaces
- Hubert‘s relentless quest to perfect the adding machine by incrementally advancing its sophistication
- Examples demonstrating how Hopkins designs presaged principles we now take for granted in computing technology
While electronics get the modern attention, the mechanical computing pioneers like the Hopkins brothers laid vital conceptual foundations. This is their fascinating story…
William Hopkins: From Tinkering Minister to Celebrated Inventor
A Lifelong Passion for Mechanics
As a boy in Vermont, William Hopkins found inspiration in assisting his father, a manufacturer of various agricultural tools and equipment — early exposure to applied mechanics he would never forget. Observing his penchant for manual work and invention, Willam‘s father fully expected the boy would pursue a technical trade. But William, conditioned by family pressures, embarked instead on religious studies to become a minister…
