...HISTORY OF THE COMPUTER ARTICLE WRITTEN BY: ADEBOWALE ONIFADE ELECTRICAL ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN NIGERIA REGION 8 HISTORY OF THE COMPUTER ABSTRACT This paper takes a keen look at the history of computer technology with a view to encouraging computer or electrical electronic engineering students to embrace and learn the history of their profession and its technologies. Reedy (1984) quoted Aldous Huxley thus: “that men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.” This paper therefore emphasizes the need to study history of the computer because a proper study and understanding of the evolution of computers will undoubtedly help to greatly improve on computer technologies. INTRODUCTION The word ‘computer’ is an old word that has changed its meaning several times in the last few centuries. Originating from the Latin, by the mid-17th century it meant ‘someone who computes’. The American Heritage Dictionary (1980) gives its first computer definition as “a person who computes.” The computer remained associated with human activity until about the middle of the 20th century when it became applied to “a programmable electronic device that can store, retrieve, and process data” as Webster’s Dictionary (1980) defines it. Today, the word computer refers to computing devices, whether or not they are electronic, programmable, or capable of ‘storing and retrieving’ data...
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...“HISTORY OF COMPUTERS” CIS 110 March 13, 2010 The history through Computer and its timeline defines the beginning for where it all began. Let’s start in the year 1939 where David Packard and Bill Hewlett first started there company there first product was called the HP 200A Audio Oscillator which was a popular piece of test equipment for the engineers Walt Disney Pictures was their first customer and ordered eight of the 200B model to use as sound effects generators for the movie “Fantasia” in the 1940s the first (CNC) that was build was call “The Complex Number Calculator” designed by researcher George Stibitz and demonstrated in New York at the Dartmouth College. This demonstration showed that this was to consider to be the first remote access computing using a teletype connected via special telephone lines through this timeline.( 2006 Computer History Museum) it will show that from the moment Computers was thought of and how the build went through a concept of steps before fully calling a (PC) an Personal Computer a lot of what I have read and seen through the timeline of the history of are computers for every new year a new chapter starts in building a fully functional computer but over time is where it took for where it all began as different components that different Engineers build. To get or build a fully functional computer from the components that make it you will start with a Case, Power Supply, Motherboard, Microprocessor, Memory, Drive Controllers, Hard disk...
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...The first computers were people! That is, electronic computers (and the earlier mechanical computers) were given this name because they performed the work that had previously been assigned to people. "Computer" was originally a job title: it was used to describe those human beings (predominantly women) whose job it was to perform the repetitive calculations required to compute such things as navigational tables, tide charts, and planetary positions for astronomical almanacs. Imagine you had a job where hour after hour, day after day, you were to do nothing but compute multiplications. Boredom would quickly set in, leading to carelessness, leading to mistakes. And even on your best days you wouldn't be producing answers very fast. Therefore, inventors have been searching for hundreds of years for a way to mechanize (that is, find a mechanism that can perform) this task. This picture shows what were known as "counting tables" [photo courtesy IBM] A typical computer operation back when computers were people. The abacus was an early aid for mathematical computations. Its only value is that it aids the memory of the human performing the calculation. A skilled abacus operator can work on addition and subtraction problems at the speed of a person equipped with a hand calculator (multiplication and division are slower). The abacus is often wrongly attributed to China. In fact, the oldest surviving abacus was used in 300 B.C. by the Babylonians. The abacus is still in use today...
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...History of computer documentary Hardly anything defines modern life better than the computer. Whether we like it or not, computers have infiltrated every aspect of our society. Today computers do much more than simply compute. For instance: supermarket scanners calculate our bill while keeping store inventory, computerized telephone switching centers play traffic cop to millions of calls and keep lines of communication untangled, and ATM’s let us conduct banking transactions from virtually anywhere in the world. But where did all this technology come from and where is it heading? To fully understand and appreciate the impact computers have on our lives and promises they hold for the future, it is important to understand their evolution. The real beginnings of computers start with an English mathematics professor, Charles Babbage. Frustrated at many errors he found while examining calculations for the Royal Astronomical Society, he declared, "I wish to God these calculations had been performed by steam!" With those words, the automation of computers had begun. By 1812, Babbage noticed a harmony between machines and mathematics: machines were best at performing tasks repeatedly without mistake, while mathematics often required a repetition of steps. The problem was applying the ability of machines to the needs of mathematics. Babbage's first attempt was in 1822 when he proposed a machine to perform differential equations, called a Difference Engine. It was powered by steam and...
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...history The History of Computer By Robert B Enea The history of the computer. The father of the computer is Charles Babbage he made the design for the computer that we use today. In 1940 the colossus was completed by Tommy Flowers and was used in War World two to be a code breaker which helped us win the war. In 1950 -1960 computer mainframes were installed in school, business and government. In 1976 the Internet was made to transfer data. Then in 1982 IBM made the first personal computer with the help of Intel which made the central processing unit (CPU) and Microsoft which give them operating system (OS) then later on gave them Disk Operating System (DOS). In 1989 the world wide web was launched which allowed people to view documents. Charles Babbage was the first person to design the programmable computer which has led us to more complex computer designs. Thanks to Charles Babbage we now have the information, design and modern computers. Babbage's machines were among the first mechanical computers, although they were not actually completed, largely because of funding problems and personality issues. The data and program memory were separated, operation was instruction-based, the control unit could make conditional jumps, and the machine had a separate Input Output unit (I/O). Colossus was the world's first electronic, digital, programmable computer designed and made by Tommy Flowers. Colossus was the first of the electronic digital machines with programmability...
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...History of Computers Computer history can be traced back since the 1880s from the advent typewriting and mechanical counting prototype and also companies such as the National Cash Register which made the atm machines we use today to withdraw cash. John Vincent Atanasoff was a physicist who invented the electronic digital computer. The first electronic digital computer was an idea whose time had come; several groups working more or less independently arrived at almost the same place at the same time. Atanasoff was simply a bit ahead of the pack and for him being ahead had a cost. Atanasoff was required to work alone in a place far removed from the mainstream of computer development. He had trouble finding anyone who recognized the significance of his work. Iowa State supported Atanasoff's work, but none of the university officials fully appreciated what he was up to. Computers have been around since World War II used by the military against the enemy. The Germans used the enigma code machine during the war to secretly send code messages. The enigma code machine was one of their secret weapons they used against the allies. The Enigma offered 150 quintillion possible combinations. Computers have changed since then and now have better versions. Then came the Xerox Parc Alto personal computer developed in 1973, which was a breakthrough then with its built-in mouse and the use of windows. The CHM described it as the Macintosh 10 years before it hit the market. In 1976 apple co-founder...
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...I am pleased to give you information on the history of computers. I learned a lot of important things about computers from our time and our past. Take a moment to enjoy my paper on the history of computers. I hope it’s as enlightening to you as it was to me. “Who invented the computer”? is not a question easily answered. The answer is that many inventors contributed to the history of computers. Computers are complex pieces of machinery made up of many parts each of which can be considered a separate invention. This paper covers some of the milestones in computer history, concentrating more on the history of personal home computers. For instance, in 1936 Konrad Zuse made the first freely programmable computer called the Z1. In 1944, Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper created the Mark1. Then in 1951 John Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly produced the first commercial computer called the Univac. In 1953 I. B.M (International Business Machines Corporation) enters into the history of computers. At one time hardly anyone could access a computer simply because it was not at our grasp. Computers weren't considered mainstream until the 1980's, before that we had several other ways of getting work done. In corporate settings, secretaries and typewriters were used to do the bulk of the paperwork, most executives utilized more than one secretary. The issue with that would be that human error comes into play they had to correct mistakes using liquid paper. ...
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...second generation computer in TechnologyExpand architecture A computer built from transistors, designed between the mid-1950s andmid-1960s. Ferrite core memory and magnetic drums replaced cathode ray tubes anddelay-line storage for main memory. Index registers and floating pointarithmetic hardware became widespread. Machine-independent high levelprogramming languages such as ALGOL, COBOL and Fortran wereintroduced to simplify programming. I/O processors were introduced to supervise input-output operationsindependently of the CPU thus freeing the CPU from time-consuminghousekeeping functions. The CPU would send the I/O processor an initialinstruction to start operating and the I/O processor would then continueindependently of the CPU. When completed, or in the event of an error, theI/O processor sent an interrupt to the CPU. Batch processing became feasible with the improvement in I/O and storagetechnology in that a batch of jobs could be prepared in advance, stored onmagnetic tape and processed on the computer in one continuous operationplacing the results on another magnetic tape. It became commonplace forauxiliary, small computers to be used to process the input and output tapesoff-line thus leaving the main computer free to process user programs.Computer manufacturers began to provide system software such ascompilers, subroutine libraries and batch monitors. With the advent of second generation computers it became necessary totalk about computer systems, since the number of memory units...
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...The History of Computers From primitive abaci to lab tops and calculators, the computer has evolved through time to become the essential part of our technocratic society. The development of the computer has shaped the way technology and science is viewed in different cultures around the world. The connotation of what a computer is nowadays brings to mind a monitor, keyboard, processor and its other electronic components; however, that is not how things have always been. From the Chinese using abaci to count, to the Druids' usage of stones to follow the seasonal changes, to the Europeans using Pascalines and calculators to work out mathematical problems the concept of the computer has been around for hundreds of years (Hoyle). Therefore, the history of computers is important to observe not only for the influence it brought to our culture, but the progress it has made through time. The history of modern computers has been influenced by the earlier advancement of primordial technology. The abacus developed in circa 500 B.C for example, used pebbles, rocks, beads, or shells to keep track of the counters numbers. Furthermore, "the abacus was man's first attempt at automating the counting process" (Hoyle). In addition, the Pascaline, invented and built by a French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal, was the first mathematical adding machine (Long 54). The Pascaline was a gear-driven machine that allowed the user to calculate answers without doing arithmetic (Hoyle)...
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...History of Computers Carving notches into bones • 20,000 BC to 30,000 BC • Oldest known objects used to represent numbers • Discovered in Western Europe, date from the Aurignacian period correspond to the first appearance of Cro-Magnon man (caves of the same name in Southern France, in which the first skeletons of this race were discovered in 1868.) Abacus • 1000-500 BC • First actual calculating mechanism • Babylonians or Chinese Mechanical Calculator • 1500 AD, Leonardo Da Vinci • First mechanical calculator Napier’s Bones • 1614, John Napier • Multiplication tables inscribed on strips of wood or bone • Multiply, divide, square roots John Napier • Scottish Mathematician • Laird of Merchiston Wilhelm Schickard • German Astronomer and Mathematician Slide Rule • 1625, William Oughtred • Multiplication and division, and “scientific" functions such as roots, logarithms and trigonometry, but is not normally used for addition or subtraction. Pascaline • 1642, Blaise Pascal • First digital calculator • Used to add and subtract Blaise Pascal- French mathematician, physicist and theologian. Step Reckoner • 1670, Gottfried von Leibniz • Addition, subtraction, multiplication, divide, evaluate square roots Gottfried von Leibniz • German Baron • Entered University at 15 years old and received his bachelor’s degree at 17 y.o. Punched Card Loom • 1801, Joseph Marie Jacquard •...
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...History of Computer Introduction Man’s progress is measured by sophistication of his tools. First, he discovered how to control fire. Eventually, he invented the wheel. He built boats and earned to harness the wind. As soon as commerce developed in the early societies, people recognized the need to calculate and keep track of information. They soon devised simple computing devices and bookkeeping systems to enable them to add, subtract, and simple record transactions. Today, we are witnessing rapid technological changes taking place on a broad and scale. However, many centuries elapsed before technology was sufficiently advanced to develop computers. Without computers, man with technological achievements of the past decade would not have been possible. ANCIENT TIMES Shells, chicken, bones, or any number of objects would have been used but the fact that the word calculate is derived for “calculate”. The Latin word for small stone, suggests that pebbles or heads were arranged to form the famous abacus, the first man-made computing device. Early man also invented numbering systems to enable him to compute with ease for sums greater than 10. Decimal numbering system (Hindu-Arabic influence) uses specific digits representing from 0-9. 1600-1900 Blaise Pascal (French Mathematician) invented an adding machine in 1642. The machine adopted partly the principles of the abacus but did away with the use of the hand to move the beads of counters instead, Pascal used wheels. Pascal’s...
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...vA Very Brief History of Computer Science Written by Jeffrey Shallit for CS 134 at the University of Waterloo in the summer of 1995. This little web page was hastily stitched together in a few days. Perhaps eventually I will get around to doing a really good job. Suggestions are always welcome. A translation of this web page into French has been prepared by Anne Dicky at the University of Bordeaux. Before 1900 People have been using mechanical devices to aid calculation for thousands of years. For example, the abacus probably existed in Babylonia (present-day Iraq) about 3000 B.C.E. The ancient Greeks developed some very sophisticated analog computers. In 1901, an ancient Greek shipwreck was discovered off the island of Antikythera. Inside was a salt-encrusted device (now called the Antikythera mechanism) that consisted of rusted metal gears and pointers. When this c. 80 B.C.E. device was reconstructed, it produced a mechanism for predicting the motions of the stars and planets. (More Antikythera info here.) John Napier (1550-1617), the Scottish inventor of logarithms, invented Napier's rods (sometimes called "Napier's bones") c. 1610 to simplify the task of multiplication. In 1641 the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) built a mechanical adding machine. Similar work was done by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716). Leibniz also advocated use of the binary system for doing calculations. Recently it was discovered that Wilhelm Schickard (1592-1635)...
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...PC: A Selective History of the Computer Thousands of years ago, the abacus was invented; it was this seemingly simple device that aided a human with calculations, which would be used as the conceptual model to build the computer. Looking back, one of the earliest instances of computer technology in action was not found in a computer at all but in a loom. The Jacquard loom, patented in 1804, was programmed by punched cards to create patterns in woven cloth (Keats 72). Charles Babbage, the English mathematician and many others would eventually use punch cards to program the computers they developed. The computer has taken many forms through the ages, and it would not be until almost 100 years later that the first fully electronic computer, the Atanasoff Berry Computer (ABC), would be developed, ushering in the age of electronic computing. The earliest computing device known, the abacus, a tool for counting and calculating, was invented thousands of years ago, and it consisted of beads on a frame whose numerical value was indicated by their position on the frame (Fernandes). In addition to being beads on a frame, an abacus was a stone or an area on the ground with grooves in which pebbles were placed and then manipulated for calculating. The abacus was in use centuries before the adoption of the written modern numeral system and is still widely used (“Abacus”). The abacus used the biquinary numbering system, a numbering system used in some early computers (Kent and Williams...
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...History of Computer “Computer” is probably one of the most heard words nowadays. When we hear this word, we can picture a monitor with a rectangular box, keyboard and a mouse in technical sense. But literally what is computer? A computer is a general purpose device that can be programmed to carry out a set of arithmetic or logical operations automatically. Since a sequence of operations can be readily changed, the computer can solve more than one kind of problem. Conventionally, a computer consists of at least one processing element, typically a central processing unit (CPU), and some form of memory. The processing element carries out arithmetic and logic operations, and a sequencing and control unit can change the order of operations in response to stored information. Peripheral devices allow information to be retrieved from an external source, and the result of operations saved and retrieved. But the computer that we are used to seeing now is not a result of one day. It’s a result of many years. Many scholars have shared their idea to develop this device, though Charles Babbage is called the main person behind the invention of computer. A brief history of computer is provided below: I would divide the history behind computer into two parts. First one is history before birth of Jesus and second one is history after birth of Jesus. History before birth of Jesus: Actually there are not many events in this period that contribute to today’s computers but this period has...
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...History of Computer Science Name: Kamyll Dawn Cocon Course, Yr. & Sec.: BSMT 1-D REACTION PAPER The topic of the video which is about the history of computer was kind of interesting since it high lightened our mind about where the computer had really came from. Not only have that, it also made us understand how the computers of today became very wonderful and powerful. Before, computers only existed in the imagination of humans and were believed that creating such monstrous device was impossible. It was a huge leap in the field of computer during the 19th century when Charles Babbage developed the 1st modern computer called the difference machine. The most advantageous feature of this machine is that it reflected Babbage’s attitude of being a perfectionist. Although his work was not finished, the detailed text that was written by Ada was significant in modifying his versions and for documentary purposes of his work. The rapid increase of the American population, on the other hand, triggered the development of a machine that will help the census tabulate such population very fast. Hermin Horrith’s occupation was very helpful to the development of this machine since he used business to gain money to revise his machine which had later evolved into the international business machine. Although war causes devastation to the environment as well as the people involved, it also had contributed to the development of computers, which is the birth of ENIAC, the first large-scale...
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