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Hungry Posted 19 years ago
Grammar
Please help me. It's very very urgent!
Could someone please rephrase the lines below?
The first computers were people! That is, electronic computers (and the earlier mechanical computers) were given this name because they performed the work that had previously been assigned to people. "Computer" was originally a job title: it was used to describe those human beings (predominantly women) whose job it was to perform the repetitive calculations required to compute such things as navigational tables, tide charts, and planetary positions for astronomical almanacs. Imagine you had a job where hour after hour, day after day, you were to do nothing but compute multiplications. Boredom would quickly set in, leading to carelessness, leading to mistakes. And even on your best days you wouldn't be producing answers very fast. Therefore, inventors have been searching for hundreds of years for a way to mechanize (that is, find a mechanism that can perform) this task.
The first computers were people! That is, electronic computers (and the earlier mechanical computers) were given this name because they performed the work that had previously been assigned to people. "Computer" was originally a job title: it was used to describe those human beings (predominantly women) whose job it was to perform the repetitive calculations required to compute such things as navigational tables, tide charts, and planetary positions for astronomical almanacs. Imagine you had a job where hour after hour, day after day, you were to do nothing but compute multiplications. Boredom would quickly set in, leading to carelessness, leading to mistakes. And even on your best days you wouldn't be producing answers very fast. Therefore, inventors have been searching for hundreds of years for a way to mechanize (that is, find a mechanism that can perform) this task.
Top answer
To be honest, the first two lines don't make sense when used together. It sounds like human beings were called "computers" but then it says that electonric devices did the work of people. This juxtaposition makes what comes next -- again referring to humans -- confusing.
- To be honest, the first two lines don't make sense when used together.
- It sounds like human beings were called "computers" but then it says that electonric devices did the work of people.
- This juxtaposition makes what comes next -- again referring to humans -- confusing.
- I know you didn't ask for comments on the original, but "nothing but compute multiplications" doesn't sound right and probably is inaccurate; they probably did more than the multiplication function.
- " Further, the use of "have been" in "inventors have been searching" sounds like they have not yet succeeded in this search.
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12 Answers
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To be honest, the first two lines don't make sense when used together. It sounds like human beings were called "computers" but then it says that electonric devices did the work of people. This juxtaposition makes what comes next -- again referring to humans -- confusing. I know you didn't ask for comments on the original, but "nothing but compute multiplications" doesn't sound right and probably i
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By the way can I say like
"It’s believed that people were the first computers, i.e. people used to perform repetitive calculations all day, and such people were known as "computers". But doing the same task over and over is boring and leads to mistakes, so inventors created machines to perform these calculations."
"It’s believed that people were the first computers, i.e. people used to perform repetitive calculations all day, and such people were known as "computers". But doing the same task over and over is boring and leads to mistakes, so inventors created machines to perform these calculations."
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When you say "It's believed" you mean that you don't have any facts to support this. It doesn't seem to apply in this case.
The addition of "but" is okay, but it makes your writing more informal, because truly formal writing does not use conjunctions to begin a sentence.
The addition of "but" is okay, but it makes your writing more informal, because truly formal writing does not use conjunctions to begin a sentence.
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How about something like the following:
The term "Computer" was originally used to describe those people (predominantly women) whose trade it was to perform the repetitive calculations required to compute such things as navigational tables, tide charts, and planetary positions for astronomical almanacs. Imagine you had a job where hour after hour, day after day, you did nothing but mu
The term "Computer" was originally used to describe those people (predominantly women) whose trade it was to perform the repetitive calculations required to compute such things as navigational tables, tide charts, and planetary positions for astronomical almanacs. Imagine you had a job where hour after hour, day after day, you did nothing but mu
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Grammar GeekWhen you say "It's believed" you mean that you don't have any facts to support this. It doesn't seem to apply in this case.Thanks a lot, GG!
The addition of "but" is okay, but it makes your writing more informal, because truly formal writing does not use conjunctions to begin a sentence.
By the way, what about "i.e.(
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weird or jerky to you, please correct that too. It will be real nice of you.
People were the first computers, i.e. due to the fact that people used to perform repetitive computations all day they were referred to as "computers". In fact, the term “computers” was originally used as a job description (rather than referring to the machines themselves), but over the
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Please continue in the same thread and don't start new ones. I have joined the threads together.
I have nothing to add to my comments from before, except now it sounds like people had a job description of "computer" 2300 years ago.
I have nothing to add to my comments from before, except now it sounds like people had a job description of "computer" 2300 years ago.
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