Generations of Computers Quiz

Generations of Computers

• The first generation of computers, between the 1940s and 1950s, were based on vacuum tubes. Notable examples are ENIAC, UNIVAC, IBM 650, and IBM 701.
• The second generation of computers, between the 1950s and 1960s, used transistors. Examples include IBM 1401, IBM 7090 and 7094, and UNIVAC 1107.
• The third generation of computers, from the 1960s to the 1970s, utilized integrated circuits. Some significant machines from this era are IBM 360, IBM 370, PDP-11, and UNIVAC 1108.
• The fourth generation of computers, starting in the 1970s and continuing till present, are based on microprocessors. Popular devices include IBM PC, STAR 1000, APPLE II, and Apple Macintosh.
• The fifth generation of computers, encompassing the present and future, emphasizes Artificial Intelligence (AI). Common examples include desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

Key Components of a computer

• A vacuum tube is an electronic device controlling electron flow in a vacuum.
• A transistor is an electronic component acting as an amplifier or switch.
• An integrated circuit (IC) is a miniaturized electronic circuit printed on a chip, typically made of silicon, containing various circuit elements like transistors, diodes, and resistors.
• A microprocessor is an electronic component residing on an integrated circuit that houses a computer's central processing unit (CPU) and associated circuits.
• The central processing unit (CPU) is often referred to as the brain or engine of a computer, where the majority of processing and operations take place (CPU is part of a microprocessor).
• Magnetic drums are cylinders coated with magnetic material used to store data and programs.
• Magnetic cores utilize arrays of small rings of magnetized material, known as cores, to store information.
• Machine language is a low-level programming language consisting of binary digits (ones and zeros) that can be understood and read by the computer.
• Memory is a physical device used to store data, information, and programs within a computer.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science focusing on simulating and creating intelligent machines or replicating intelligent behavior in computers (they think, learn, work, and react like humans).

Four Basic Computer Periods

• Premechanical age: 3000 BC-1450 A.D
• Mechanical age: 1450-1840
• Electromechanical age: 1840-1940
• Electronic age: 1940-Present

Writing and Alphabets

• Petroglyphs are signs or simple figures carved in rock.
• Ideographs are symbols representing ideas and concepts.
• Cuneiform was the first true written language and the first real information system.
• Sumerians utilized a stylus and wet clay for writing.
• Egyptians used papyrus plants for writing (2600 BC).
• Chinese developed paper from rags (100 AD).

Books and Libraries

• Mesopotamia's religious leaders preserved the earliest books.
• Egyptians kept scrolls.
• Greeks (600 BC) introduced the method of folding sheets of papyrus vertically into leaves and binding them together.

First Numbering System

• Egyptian numerical system used vertical lines (|) for numbers 1-9, U or O for 10, coiled rope for 100, and lotus blossom for 1000.
• Hindus (100-200 AD) developed a 9-digit numbering system.
• The concept of zero was introduced by Hindus around 875 AD.

Early Calculating Devices

• The abacus was the first recorded calculator and adding machine, invented in Babylonia and popularized in China.
• Johann Guttenberg introduced the movable metal-type printing process in 1450.
• John Napier invented LOGS (Logarithm) which allows multiplication and division to be reduced to addition and subtraction.
• Arabian Lattice is a special version of multiplication tables laid out on a set of four-sided wooden rods.
• Wilhelm Shickard invented the first mechanical calculator, capable of handling six digits and carrying across columns.
• William Oughtred invented the slide rule.
• Blaise Pascal created the Pascaline, a calculator made of clock gears and levers for addition and subtraction.
• Gottfried Leibniz invented the Stepped Reckoner.
• Joseph-Marie Jacquard developed the automatic loom controlled by punch cards.
• Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar introduced the Arithmometer, the first mass-produced calculator.
• Charles Babbage invented the difference engine and analytical engine, earning him the title of "Father of Modern Computer".
• Lady Ada Augusta Lovelace Byron is recognized as the first computer programmer.

Early Electrical Innovations

• Alessandro Volta invented the Voltaic Battery, the first electric battery, known as the voltaic pile.

Telegraphs and Telephones

• Samuel F.B Morse conceived and developed his version of an electromagnetic telegraph.
• Alexander Graham Bell created the first working telephone.
• Guglielmo Marconi discovered that electrical waves can travel through space and have effects far from their origin, leading to the development of radio.
• George Boole developed Boolean Algebra, a binary algebra system.

Other Notable Inventors

• Pehr and Edward Scheutz completed... (Text is incomplete).