Computing History PDF

Computer History Introduction to Computing Robert M. Robles Jr.,MCGA Computer History In 40 years computers went from being giant expensive machines that only corporations could own to the personal computer we see today. Early Calculating Devices People have been using devices to aid in calculatio...

Computer History Introduction to Computing Robert M. Robles Jr.,MCGA Computer History In 40 years computers went from being giant expensive machines that only corporations could own to the personal computer we see today. Early Calculating Devices People have been using devices to aid in calculation for thousands of years. Devices include ◦ fingers ◦ tally sticks (animal bones carved with notches) ◦ counting rods ( I, II, III, IIII, IIIII, T) ◦ the abacus, …  2700- Abacus – Calculator 2300BC A counting device Beads are moved to perform arithmetic functions Still used by traders and clerks in Asia, Africa, … Demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTVXUG_P ngE  1620 Slide Ruler An early analogue computer used primarily for multiplication and division. Invented by William Oughtred Slide rulers were taken to the moon in the 1960s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD0NfshRyh8 Demonstration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waiprjueVpQ  1642 Pascaline Blaise Pascal created the first mechanical calculator Performed addition and subtraction Was too expensive for the time, hence it didn’t become a commercial device. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h71HAJWnVU Tables Mathematical tables were created by people called ’computers’. They were large charts showing the results of calculations, e.g. multiplication, division, and trigonometry However, these were known to be error prone, Thus the need for more accurate math drove innovation.  Charles Babbage Noticed errors in mathematical tables (1820) Created the difference engine to compute this math more accurately Used tons of grant money as well as his own Only built a small part, as he also had to construct the tools to build it The difference engine wasn’t finished, and he went on to design the Analytical engine.  1821 Difference Engine The first mechanical computer Created by Charles Babbage a “father of computing” Compiled mathematical tables ◦ add, subtract, polynomial functions  Ada Lovelace She wrote the first algorithm that would have been executed by the Analytical Engine She is considered the worlds first programmer What are Punch Cards? Stiff paper that holds commands Commands and data are indicated by holes/no holes Early computers used these as input commands Herman Hollerith During the Industrial revolution the population 30% each decade. They were still tabulating census data by hand. In 1887 they still had not completed tallying the 1880 census data Herman Hollerith an MIT prof introduced punch cards and a machine to read them to tally this information. Took only 6 weeks to tally the 1890 census He continued to improve the machine, and created the company IBM  1st Generation Computers 1951 – 1959 Based on Vacuum tubes Vacuum tubes: Control electric current using the vacuum, and Can be used to start/stop, or change the flow based on the current Alan Turing During WWII Turing created an electromechanical machine to break German Ciphers. It is estimated that his efforts in breaking the ciphers reduced the length of the war by 2 – 4 years.  1944 Harvard Mark 1 A electro-mechanical computer Created by Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper Developed and built by IBM Could store 72 numbers Multiplication took 6 seconds Used in WW II to compute artillery tables Produced Mathematical Tables  1947 First Computer Bug Grace Hopper found the first computer bug while working on the Harvard Mark II A moth was trapped between two relay switches She took a photo to document it  1946 ENIAC First electronic general purpose computer Created at the University of Pennsylvania Cost almost $500,000 (approx. $6,000,000 today) One of first programs a study of the hydrogen bomb A secret military project designed to improve the construction of artillery firing tables ENIAC Contained 17,500 Vacuum tubes 7,200 crystal diodes, … Tubes burnt out fast, hence the machine normally could only run for 10 to 30 minutes at a time Speed was 1000 times of electro-mechanical machines (Wikipedia) 5000 adds, 357 multiplications, and 38 divisions per minute UNIVAC Inventors of ENIAC made UNIVAC which is a programmable (held data and printed) Few people bought it as they didn’t understand the value Then they used it to project the 1952 presidential election, and it got the answer with