COMPUTER (from Lat. computare, to add to or reduce), a device for storing and processing information, one of the basic constituents of matter. Throughout history, computers have taken many forms: purely mechanical, electro-mechanical, purely electronic, and even organic. In fact, the human brain can itself be seen as a sort of poorly designed, inefficient, and extremely unreliable computer. However, since the Modern Age, the term has come to refer exclusively to digital electronics.
