History of computing — Tenth Test Post
Mechanical analog computer devices appeared again a thousand years later in the medieval Islamic world and were developed by Muslim astronomers, such as the mechanical geared astrolabe by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī,[10] and the torquetum by Jabir ibn Aflah.[11] According to Simon Singh, Muslim mathematicians also made important advances in cryptography, such as the development of cryptanalysis and frequency analysis by Alkindus.[12][13] Programmable machines were also invented by Muslim engineers, such as the automatic flute player by the Banū Mūsā brothers,[14] and Al-Jazari’s humanoid robots[citation needed] and castle clock, which is considered to be the first programmable analog computer.
