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Human Computers

Human Computers

For centuries, “computers” were human beings - low-paid clerks doing simple math as part of a team performing complex calculations. Their humble work spurred advances in science, industry, national defense and, ultimately, in the invention of the computing machines that replaced them.

Large-scale tabulating operation

This scene captures a typical hierarchy of calculation workers: seated low-skilled punch operators in the majority, their immediate supervisors standing behind them, a few sorting-machine operators nearer the windows, and their supervisors behind them.

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