HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

Definition of Computer

The computer is one of the most wanted equipment in each and every field in modern society. The computer is an electronic device that manipulates information or data. It has the ability to store, retrieve, and process data. A modern computer is a machine that can be instructed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations automatically via computer programming. Modern computers have the ability to follow generalized sets of operations, called programs. These programs enable computers to perform an extremely wide range of task

• A computer is a programmable machine
• A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions.
• The computer is any device which aids humans in performing various kinds of computations or calculations.

Earliest Time

In the ancient times, man and his feet were used for calculation, but with time the symbols were substituted for numbers, and they want the ability to work on a wider range. Therefore, numbers were born into the world. Hindu Arabic symbols and Roman numerals are still in use today. Along with the numbering system, man began to do large scale mathematical operations. This is called adding, subtracting, subtracting, multiplying. When the man passing each era, the necessity of information is much more needed. They haven't a proper way To-Plan many things, to compare, to forecast, to serious calculations. Because of this, man became interested in the creation of various instruments to facilitate them. 

Milestones: A Brief Timeline

Abacus

An abacus is a mechanical device used to aid an individual in performing mathematical calculations. There are small sections called Beads on vertical sticks, which allow you to quickly calculate and follow a certain method. The abacus was invented in Babylonia in 2400 B.C. The abacus in the form we are most familiar with was first used in China in around 500 B.C. It used to perform basic arithmetic operations.

 

Napier’s Bones

• Invented by John Napier in1614.
• Allowed the operator to multiply, divide, and calculate square and cube roots by moving the rods around and placing them in specially constructed boards.

 Slide Rule

• Invented by William Oughtred in 1622.  
• Is based on Napier's ideas about logarithms.
• Used primarily for
– multiplication
– division
– roots
– logarithms
– Trigonometry
• Not normally used for addition or subtraction.

Pascaline    

• Invented by Blaise Pascal in1642.
•This can be called as Adding Machine alias the first calculator.

Jacquard Loom

• In 1801 a French scientist named Joseph Jacquard developed a punch card system called a cloth machine.
• It was possible to change the weave pattern by changing the Punch Card. The punch card had holes in it that made it possible to adjust the pattern. It was called the Jacquard loom.

Difference Engine and Analytical Engine

Charles Babbage, an English mechanical engineer, and polymath, originated the concept of a programmable computer. Considered the "father of the computer", he conceptualized and invented the first mechanical computer in the early 19th century (1822). After working on his revolutionary difference engine, designed to aid in navigational calculations, in 1833 he realized that much more general design, an Analytical Engine, was possible. The input of programs and data was to be provided to the machine via punched cards, a method being used at the time to direct mechanical looms such as the Jacquard loom. For output, the machine would have a printer, a curve plotter and a bell. The machine would also be able to punch numbers onto cards to be read in later

Mark 1

Also known as IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator
(ASCC).
• Invented by Howard H. Aiken in 1943
• The first electro-mechanical computer.

Howard Aiken of Harvard University decided in 1937 that it was time to make Babbage's device. With the help of its colleagues at Harvard University and the IBM company, the Automatic Sequence Control Calculator was invented in 1944 and was named MARK I. MARK I was able to perform 4 basic calculations. There were keys to the control and the keys were attached to a keyboard and recorded on the Punch Card. It had about 3000 Electro-Mechanical Relays, weighing about 50 tons and was in use for about 15 years.

Z1

• The first programmable computer.
• created by Konrad Zuse in Germany from 1936 to 1938.
• To program the Z1 required that the user insert punch tape into a punch tape reader and all output was also generated through punch tape.

ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)

Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (in some references it is also mentioned as Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) is the first digital computer. It was created by the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in 1946. Developed by John Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly. It had no moving parts and was capable of encoding. It also has the ability to store Calculations Steps. The device was used by Vacuum Tubes, which found about 18,000 of them. This is said to be a first-generation computer. It performs about 5,000 calculations per second. The combination is performed in 0.2 milliseconds. The main problem with this is its size and data processing ability. It took up about 1,500 square feet of space and was able to do one thing at a time. It fills a 20-foot by 40-foot room and has 18,000 vacuum tubes.

UNIVAC 1  (UNIVersal Automatic Computer 1)

• The first commercial computer for business and government applications.
• Designed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly

EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer)

• The First Stored Program Computer
• Designed by Von Neumann in 1952.
• It has a memory to hold both a stored program as well as data.