ABSTRACT
The development of electronic computers and electronic and mechanical data processing equipment such as calculating machines has greatly increased the capacity of the historian to carry out quantitative analysis. Such equipment broadens his range in two directions; firstly he can make more use of complicated statistical techniques which cannot easily or quickly be carried out without mechanical aid, and secondly the use of data processing equipment allows him to manipulate much larger quantities of data than could be handled by more traditional methods. Therefore, the new equipment, much of it invented during the last twenty years, has made it possible to analyse historical data in ways that were hitherto impossible. The object of this chapter is therefore to provide an introduction to the use, and the possibilities of the use, of data processing and computing equipment.
