"The Roots of Computer Code Lie in Telegraph Code"

Question

by Kat Eschner

Baudot had been a telegraph operator since 1869, write Fritz E. Froehlich and Allen Kent in The Froehlich/Kent Encyclopedia of Telecommunications. When he was training, he learned how to operate Samuel Morse’s original telegraph, but he also learned to use other telegraph models. He practiced on the Hughes telegraph, an early printing telegraph that had a keyboard like a piano, and the Meyer telegraph, which was the first to use paper tape with holes in it to record telegraph signals, according to author Anton A. Huurdeman. Baudot built on these innovations, adding his own touch.

Baudot Code's biggest advantage over Morse Code, which was first used in the 1840s, and other earlier codes, was its speed. Earlier systems sent characters of information by using different lengths of character distinguished by a short gap (the “dits” and “das” of the Morse code system). “Baudot’s code sent characters in a synchronized stream,” writes author Robin Boast, “as each character code was exactly the same length and had exactly the same number of elements.” Although some of the ideas he used had been pioneered before, Baudot was the first to connect them all in a system, Boast writes. He goes on to explain, “most significant for us is that Baudot was the first to recognize the importance of a simple five-bit binary code–a digital code.” Baudot’s fixed-length binary code is a direct predecessor of some of the digital codes used today.

“The Roots of Computer Code Lie in Telegraph Code” by Kat Eschner, from SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE, September 11, 2017. Copyright © 2017 by Smithsonian Institution. Reprinted with permission from Smithsonian Enterprises. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any medium is strictly prohibited without permission from Smithsonian Institution.

Question
Use the passage to answer the question.

The Latin root bini means “two together.” What word in the passage features this root?

(1 point)
Responses

printing
printing

digital
digital

built
built

binary

Answer 1

The word in the passage that features the Latin root "bini," meaning "two together," is binary.