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Questions and Answers
Who is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer?
Which device was limited to performing addition and subtraction only?
In what year was the first commercial computer, Univac 1, introduced?
Who is known for suggesting the use of the binary system to Charles Babbage?
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Which inventor is associated with the creation of the first electronic general-purpose computer?
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Who invented the mechanical loom controlled by punched cards known as the Jacquard Loom?
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Study Notes
Definition of Computer
- A computer is an electronic device that manipulates information and is a programmable machine that has the ability to store, retrieve, and process data.
History of Computers
- Abacus: a mechanical device used to aid in performing mathematical calculations, invented in Babylonia in 500 BC, used to perform basic arithmetic operations.
Early Computing Machines
- Pascaline: invented by Blaise Pascal in 1642, it could only perform addition and subtraction, and was too expensive.
- Z1: the first programming computer, created by Konrad Zuse in Germany from 1936 to 1937, used punch tape.
- Colossus: developed by Alan Turing in 1943, was the first electronic computer, but not programmable.
- ENIAC: Electronic Numerical Integrator & Computer, the first electronic general-purpose computer, developed by John Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly in 1946.
- UNIVAC 1: the first commercial computer, developed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly.
Other Important Machines
- Stepped Reckoner: invented by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1672, could add, subtract, multiply, and divide automatically.
- Jacquard Loom: a mechanical loom, invented by Joseph-Marie Jacquard in 1801, controlled by punched cards.
- Difference Engine: an automatic calculator designed to tabulate polynomial functions, invented by Charles Babbage in 1822 and 1834, the first mechanical computer.
- Analytical Engine: suggested by Augusta Ada Byron to use the binary system, and she wrote programs for the Analytical Engine in 1840.
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Description
Test your knowledge about the history of computers, including the invention of the abacus, Pascaline, and Z1. Learn about the evolution of computing devices from mechanical aids to the first programmable computers.
