Throughout history humanity has tried to invent new ways to simplify the problem-solving process. With each generation, people have used various tools and methods to help them process information. Information is defined as letters, symbols, or numbers that are used to express an idea.

The history of information processing goes back five thousand years to the abacus, one of the earliest known counting devices. This first reported calculator or processor was developed in ancient Egypt and in the Far East during the thirteenth century. The abacus consisted of wires strung across a rectangular frame. The frame divides each wire into two sections: The one on the top contains two beads, and the one on the bottom contains five beads. Each top bead represents the quantity 5; each bottom bead represents the quantity 1. Each wire represents a place: units, tens, hundreds, and...