A Brief History of the Computer
With apologies to Steven Hawking
Counting
Primative Calculators
The Abbacus
Al’Khowarizmi and the algorithm
12th Century Tashkent Cleric Developed the concept of a written process for doing something Published a book on the process of algorithms The basis of software
Philosopher Forefathers of Modern Computing 1600-1700 Pascal – Von Leibniz Blaise
developed binary arithmetic and a hand cranked calculator. Calculator was able to add, subtract, multiply and divide. developed the Pascaline.
Desk
top calculator worked lik an odometer.
Blaise Pascal
Charles Babbage The Next Leap Forward 1800’s
Charles Babbage Difference Engine
Lady Ada Byron programmer
Countess of Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron. One of the first women mathematicians in England Documented Babbage’s work. Wrote am account of the difference engine.
The Process of Mechanization Jacquards Loom Started the age of
automation Used punch cards to direct the rods on the loom to create patterns. Revolt against the introduction of looms – Ned Ludd - 1816
George Boole
Boolean Algebra Used to establish inequalities: symoblic use of <, or >, or <> Used in computer switching Modern use in library searches
Herman Hollerith punch card tabulating machine 1890 Census
Hollerith Tables and the Census
Improved the speed of the census Reduced cost by $5 million Greater accuracy of data collected Hollerith – unemployed after the census
The Mechanical Office 1928
Development of:
Small calculating-oriented machines desk calculators, cash registers Business machine industry- supported by the government – punch card machines Top four companies in 1928:
Remington Rand Burroughs
NCR (National Cash Register) IBM
Konrad Zuse - First Calculator 1938
The War Years 1939-1945 Two Primary Uses
Artillery Tables
Hand calculation replaced by machine calculation Department of the Navy
Cryptologist :
Cryptography The art or process of writing in or deciphering secret writing Bletchley House The Enigma Codes – U23
The British Effort
Alan Turing misunderstood genius 1936 Published a paper
“On Computable Numbers” Turings machine hypothetical computer that could perform any computation or logical operation a human could devise.
Turings Heritage
Code breaking was Touring’s strength. Colossus a computer to break the German enigma code - 100 Billion alternatives. Ran at rate of 25,000 characters per second
The United States Effort
The II World War Years 1939 - 1945
Calculate artillery tables. Used to break codes like the Colossus. Used to model future events - Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs. Cmdr. Grace Hooper
HARVARD MARK - 1, 1944
The Mark I - a dinosaur
51 feet long 3,304 electro mechanical switches Add or subtract 23 digit numbers in 3/10 of a second. Instructions (software) loaded by paper tape. The infamous “Bug”
ENIAC - The Next Jump Forward - 1946
1st electronic digital computer Operated with vacuum tubes rather electromechanical switches 1000 times faster than Mark I No program storage wired into circuitry.
The Advent of the Semiconductor - 1947
Developed at Bell Labs by Shockley & Bardeen – Nobel Prize Point Contact Transistor replaced power hungry, hot and short lived vacuum tubes
EDVAC - Electronic Discreet Variable Automatic Computer 1951 Data stored internally
on a magnetic drum Random access magnetic storage device First stored program computer
The 50’s the Era of Advances
Technical Advances in the 60’s
John Mccarthy coins the term “Artificial Intelligence” 1960 - Removable Disks appear 1964 - BASIC - Beginners-all purpose Symbolic Instruction Language Texas Instruments offers the first solid- state handheld calculator 1967 - 1st issue of Computerworld published
The 1970’s - The Microprocessor Revolution
A single chip containing all the elements of a computer’s central processing unit. Small, integrated, relatively cheap to manufacture.
The Super Computers 1972
The Cray Parallel processing power Speed 100 million arithmetical functions per second Sensitive to heat - cooled with liquid nitrogen Very expensive
The ALTAIR from a Voyage to Altair - Star Trek -1975
The Birth of the Micro Computer 1975
Jobs and Wozniac develop the Apple II Commodore PET, programs stored on a cassette Tandy-Radio Shack TRS80 5 1/2 inch floppy disk becomes the standard for software
Finally, The Computer as Man of the Year - 1982
Revenge of the Nerds
Where to next!!!
Technology is rapidly increasing Techno-phobia – Y2K – what happened The Internet and Cyber Space Wearable computers Smart cards Shopping Bots National Weather computer
Click on the Crystal Ball for a link to future Technologies
New Applications & Wearable Computers