History of Computer Essay Example

History of Computer Essay HISTORY OF COMPUTER THE PRE-MECHANICAL AGE: 3000 B. C. – 1450 A. D. 1. Writing and Alphabets – Communication First development of signs corresponding to spoken sounds, instead of pictures, to express words. Around 2000 B. C. , Phoenicians created symbols that expressed single syllables and consonants (the first true alphabet) The Greeks later adopted the Phoenician alphabet and added vowels; the Romans gave the letters Latin names to create the alphabet we use today. 2. Paper and Pens – input technologies. Sumerians’ input technology was a stylus that could scratch marks in wet clay. About 2600 B. C. , the Egyptians wrote on the papyrus plant. Around 100 A. D. , the Chinese made paper from rags, on which modern-day paper-making is based. 3. Books and Libraries – output technologies (permanent storage devices) Religious leaders in Mesopotamia kept the earliest â€Å"books† The Egyptians kept scrolls. Around 600 B. C. , the Greeks began to fold sheet of papyrus vertically into leaves and bind them together. 4. The First Numbering System Egyptian system: The numbers 1-9 as vertical lines, the number 10 as a U or circle, the number 100 as a coiled rope, and the number 1,000 as a lotus blossom. The first numbering system similar to those in use today were invented between 100 and 200 A. D. by Hindus in India who created a nine-digit numbering system. Around 875 A. D. , the concept of zero was developed. 5. The First Calculator: The Abacus. One of the very first information processor. The Abacus was man’s first recorded adding machine. It was in 500 B. C. when the Abacus was invented in Babylonia, then popularized in China, the Abacus is an ancient computing device constructed of sliding beads on small wooden rods, strung on a wooden frame. We will write a custom essay sample on History of Computer specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on History of Computer specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on History of Computer specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer You could call the Abacus as the first Calculator. THE MECHANICAL AGE: 1450 – 1840 1. The first Information Explosion. Johann Gutenberg ( Mainz, Germany; c. 1387-1468) Invented the movable metal-type printing process in 1450. 2. The first general purpose â€Å"computers† People are the one who held the job title â€Å"computer†: One who works with numbers. 1614 John Napier introduces logarithms, he invents logs. Logs allow multiplication and division to be reduced to addition and subtraction. 1617 John Napier employing an ancient numerical scheme known as the Arabian lattice, lays out special version of the multiplication tables on a set of four-sided wooden rods, allowing users to multiply and divide large numbers and find square and cube roots. 1623 Wilhelm Shickard, a professor at the University of Tubingen, Germany who invented the first mechanical calculator that can work with six digits and carries digits across columns. 1625 William Oughtred (1575-1660) invented the slide rule. 1642 Blaise Pascal invented a mechanical calculation machine and he called it as Pascaline. The Pascaline can solve mathematical problems like addition and subtraction. 1671 Gottfried Leibniz, a German mathematician who invented a machine called Stepped Reckoner that could multiply 5 digit and 12 digit number yielding up to 16 digit number. 1801 Joseph-Marie Jacquard developed an automatic loom that was controlled by punched cards. 1820 Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar a French who developed the Arithmometer, This device performed the same type of computations as Leibniz’s Stepped Reckoner, but was more reliable. 1821 Charles Babbage invented the first, modern Computer Design: a steam powered adding machine called the â€Å"Difference engine. † Babbage understood that long math problems were just repetitive operations. Therefore, Babbage made a machine to automatically solve math problems. 1832 Babbage also invented the â€Å"Analytical Engine. † A mechanical adding machine that took information from punch cards to solve and print complex mathematical operations. 1842 The first program was written by Ada Augusta Lovelace for Babbage’s Difference Engine. Thus Ada Lovelace is credited with being the first computer programmer. The programming language Ada is named in her honor. THE ELECTROMECHANICAL AGE: 1840 – 1940 1. The beginning of Telecommunication. Voltaic battery The first electric battery, known as the voltaic pile, was invented in 1800 by Alessandro Volta. Telegraph Samuel F. B. Morse conceived of his version of an electromagnetic telegraph in 1832 and constructed an experimental version in 1853. Telephone and Radio 1876 Alexander Graham Bell developed the first working telephone and transmitted his now famous quotations â€Å"Watson, come here, I want you. † 1894 Guglielmo Marconi discovered that electrical waves travel through space and can produce an effect far from the point at which they originated. 1852 George Boole develops binary algebra. This became known as Boolean algebra and became important in the 20th century when binary computers were developed. 2. Electromechanical Computing 1853 Pehr and Edvard Scheutz complete their Tabulating Machine, capable of processing fifteen-digit numbers, printing out results, and rounding off to eight digits. 1885 Dorr Felt devices the Comptometer, a key driven adding and subtracting calculator. 889 Felt’s Comptograph, containing a built-in printer, is introduced. 1890 The first person to successfully use punched cards—specifically for census taking—was Herman Hollerith. By the 19th century, the number of people in the United States was so large, it took seven years to count them all. 1893 Otto Shweiger, a Swiss engineer, invented the first efficient four function calculator call ed the Millionaire. 1906 Lee De Forest invented the Vacuum tube. This was important because it provided an electrically controlled switch; a necessity for digital electronics computer. History of the computer electronic age Presentation Transcript HISTORY OF THE COMPUTER THE ELECTRONIC AGE 1941-PRESENT 1941: KONRAD ZUSE Built the first programmable computer called the Z3, capable of following instructions . Z3- was the first fully functional, PROGRAM CONTROLLED computer of the world. Z1 Z3` 1942-Howard Hattaway Aiken A student of Harvard University built the Mark I â€Å" The First Stored-Program Computer. ASCC Harvard Mark 1 is 8 feet tall, 51 feet long, 2 feet thick, weighed 5 tons, used about 750,000 parts, 500 miles of wires, 3-5 seconds per calculation. A- Automatic S-Sequence C-Controlled C-Calculator 1942: John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry Completed the first all-electronic computer, called the ABC Computer, it was the first computer to use electricity in the form of vacuum tubes to help make electric computation possible. This is used for solving complex system of equations. ATANASOFF BERRY THE FOUR GENERATIONS OF DIGITAL COMPUTING THE FIRST GENERATION COMPUTERS: 1951-1958 VACCUM TUBES AS THEIR MAIN LOGIC ELEMENTS. PUNCH CARDS TO INPUT and EXTENALLY STORE DATA. ROTATING MAGNETIC DRUMS FOR INTERNAL STORAGE OF DATA PROGRAMS. First generation computer had vacuum tubes, resistors, and welded metal joints. They were large, slow, expensive, and produced a lot of heat. Often broke down because of burned-out vacuum tubes. Also needed many experts to operate them. When running these computer, people stood by shopping carts full of replacement of vacuum tubes. 1945: PRESPER EKERT and JOHN MAUCHLY Developed the first operational electronic digital computer, called ENIAC, for the US Army. It is over 1000 times faster than Mark I, and could perform 5,000 additions per second. E- Electronic N-Numerical I-Integrator A-and C-Calculator ENIAC had more than 18,000 vacuum tubes, and took up 1,800 square feet of space. In addition, the electrical current of ENIAC required could power more than a thousand modern computers. Today ENIAC’s technology could fit in a modern wristwatch. ECKERT and MAUCHLY 1951: UNIVAC This computer was also designed by Eckert and Mauchly , became the first commercially available electronic computer. One of this version the UNIVAC 5 was used to predict result of the 1952 US presidential election. It is used for business transactions and operations. UNIVAC is 5 feet tall, 50 feet in length. Consist of 5,600 vacuum tubes and 18,000 crystal diodes. An internal storage of 1000 words or 12,000 characters. UNIV ersal A utomatic C alculator 1951-1953: MAGNETIC CORE MEMORY This was the fastest type of memory until the late 1980’s. 1953: IBM 701 Known as the â€Å"DEFENSE CALCULATOR. IBM’s first commercial or business scientific calculator.