Chaos, Communication and Consciousness Lecture 2 : Pre-Electronic Communication Module PH19510

Review of Lecture #1 First Communications from pre-history to early man  Expressions (1,000,000 BC)  Gestures & Body Language  Early Spoken language (100,000 BC)  First cave paintings (30,000 BC)

Pre-Electronic Communication Information Processing & Storage  Writing  Alphabets  Numbers Information Transfer  Transport  Signalling

BCearly hominids communicate orally BCcave paintings - first recording of information BCearly pictographs 3000 BCEgyptian hieroglyphics papyrus, parchment Sumarian cuneiformclay tablets Technology Timeline

Pictographs, Hieroglyphs & Ideographs 1 word (or syllable) per symbol 1000’s of symbols in language Cuneiform Chinese  >50,000 symbols  6,500 common use Chinese Ideographs Samarian Cuneiform

Alphabets Use symbols to stand for sounds Far fewer symbols Easier to learn

Alphabets Phoenician 1000BC   Greek 800BC ABCDEFGHIKLMNOPQRSTUVXYZ abcdefghiklmnopqrstuvxyz Roman AD200

BCearly hominids communicate orally BCcave paintings - first recording of information BCearly pictographs 3000 BCEgyptian hieroglyphics papyrus, parchment Sumarian cuneiformclay tablets 1000 BCPhoenician alphabet 800 BCGreek alphabet 540 BCLibrary in Athens AD 200Roman alphabet Technology Timeline aA bB cC dD eE fF

Early Number systems Tally Marks Tally Stick Mesopotamian Sexagesimal ≈ 2000 BC

Mesopotamian Number System Counting in 10s and 6s Seconds, Minutes Degrees in circle 360 days = 1 year ?? 36,000 3,

Roman Numerals Use of letters to represent numbers Prefix  subtraction I,II,III,IV,V,VI,VII… I = 1 V = 5 X = 10 L = 50 C = 100 D = 500 M = 1000

Arabic Numerals Hindu-Arabic Positional system Introduced symbol for 0 in AD814 Introduced into Europe by Fibbonaci, AD

BCearly hominids communicate orally BCcave paintings - first recording of information BCearly pictographs 3000 BCEgyptian hieroglyphics papyrus, parchment Sumarian cuneiformclay tablets 1000 BCPhoenician alphabet 800 BCGreek alphabet 540 BCLibrary in Athens AD 200Roman alphabet AD 1000moveable clay type in China AD 1300use of paper in Europe Technology Timeline aA bB cC dD eE fF

Printing Block printing  Carve print block for each page Use of alphabet allows printing with moveable type  China C9th  Gutenberg, Germany AD1446

Johannes Gutenberg b d Mainz, Germany Inventor 1440s – early trials 1450 – first press

The Gutenberg Bible Gutenberg Bible ,282 pages 42 lines/page 20 people 300 pieces of type ≈180 copies  30 vellum  150 paper 48 remaining

Transfer of Information over Distance Physical Transfer of Information  Messenger  Horse  Sea

Technology & Maritime Navigation Direction  Magnetic North - Lodestone Latitude  Angle of Polaris  Angle of noon day sun & tables C17 th Longitude  24 hr = 360°  1hr = 15°  Need accurate clock  2 mins = 0.5° = 34 miles (equator)

Telling the time at sea Jovian Moons - Gallileo  Passage of moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto in front of Jupiter Lunar Occulations & Appulses  Time stars pass behind / close by moon Lunar Distance  Angle between moon & known stars Marine Chronometer

The Longitude Problem Act of Parliament 1714 £20,000 prize Determine longitude  Accurate to 0.5°  30 nm at equator (56km)  At Sea John Harrison  Winning design 1761 Awarded prize 1773

Optical Signalling Beacons Torches Semaphore  Flags  Chappe Towers

Chappe tower system France 1792 Claude Chappe Regulator + Indicators  196 symbols  92x92 = 8,464 codes 10-25km Paris-Lille  230km  32 mins/36 symbols 1 st data network Napoleon’s mobile

BCearly hominids communicate orally BCcave paintings - first recording of information BCearly pictographs 3000 BCEgyptian hieroglyphics papyrus, parchment Sumarian cuneiformclay tablets 1000 BCPhoenician alphabet 800 BCGreek alphabet 540 BCLibrary in Athens AD 200Roman alphabet AD 1000moveable clay type in China AD 1300use of paper in Europe AD 1446Invention of printing by Gutenberg in Germany AD 1485The first newspaper in Hungary AD 1877The phonograph invented by Edison in the USA Technology Timeline aA bB cC dD eE fF

Review of Lecture #2 Pre-electronic Communication  Pictographs  Development of the alphabet  Number systems  Printing Transfer of Information  Navigation  Signalling