How would an aquatic race develop computers?
Following on from this question and assuming the race in question had developed the ability to create tools how would they approach the need for mass calculation.
Our early computers were used to calculate large amounts of financial information, how would an underwater species approach this problem (I'm assuming electrical systems are probably out of the question but I'm happy to accept answers which prove me wrong).
I'm looking for a technology which could do large arithmetic calculations and be built and function in an underwater environment.
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Awesome! I can talk about what I think is one of the coolest inventions of all time: the analog computer.
An analog (more properly, a mechanical) computer was actually the world's first "computer" - the Antikythera Mechanism. It was an ancient Greek device that predicted the motions of the planets and other astronomical objects. Only parts of it have been found, but we can figure out a few of its basic properties. It made its "computations" using an elaborate system of gears.
Fast forward a couple millennia. Let's go to England, and meet a man by the name of Charles Babbage. I'm guessing you've heard of him. He shows up in a lot of books on alternative history, because he's hailed as one of the first computer pioneers. Babbage's first "computer" was the Difference Engine, a glorified calculator that could work with polynomials. It used a lot of gears to work with polynomials and do advanced calculations. Babbage got some funding from the government, but not a lot.
Later, he worked on his more advanced Analytical Engine, a machine that never got off the drawing board. It would have used punchcards and a more advanced gear system to perform "general purpose" calculations. Unfortunately, funding dried up, and Babbage never built it. Parts of it have been built, but it has never appeared in full form.
An underwater civilization could certainly create one of these machines. The one issue would be ocean currents, which could disturb the mechanisms. Perhaps they could shield it with something, or else put it in an area of still water. They could build it out of metal - assuming they could make tools, as per your other question.
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