Electromechanical Age of Computers

III. THE ELECTROMECHANICAL

AGE: 1840 - 1940The discovery of ways to harness

electricity was the key advance made during this period. Knowledge and

information could now be converted to electrical impulses.

TECHNICAL TERMS

ELECTROMECHANICAL

A machine that operates with electrical and mechanical energy.

BOOLEAN ALGEBRA

A form of algebra that is applied to the design of digital computers.

TELECOMMUNICATION

Art or science of communicating at a distance, esp. by means of electrical impulses.

•FOR THE FIRST TIME ELECTRICITY WAS USED IN THE OPERATION OF COMPUTERS, BUT COMPUTERS STILL HAD MANY MECHANICAL COMPONENTS.

• PROGRAMMING A COMPUTER DID NOT INVOLVE SOFTWARE. RATHER, THE PROGRAMMER ACTUALLY REWIRED THE PATHS OF ELECTRICITY THROUGH THE MACHINE IN ORDER TO CHANGE ITS MODE OF OPERATION.

1. The Beginning ofTelecommunication

YEAR INVENTOR INVENTIONS / CONTRIBUTIONS1800

ALESSANDRO VOLTA

VOLTAIC PILEThe first electric battery consists of a stack of alternating discs of zinc and copper or silver separated by felt

soaked in brine.They provided, for the first time, a simple source of stored electrical energy that didn’t rely on mechanical means.

A. VOLTAIC BATTERY

YEAR INVENTOR INVENTIONS / CONTRIBUTIONS1832-1835

SAMUEL MORSE

ELECTROMAGNETIC TELEGRAPH

Morse conceived of his version of electromagnetic telegraph

in 1832 and constructed experimental version in 1835. he did not construct a truly practical system until 1844, when he built a line from Baltimore to Washington.

B. TELEGRAPH


ALEXANDER GRAHAM

BELL

TELEPHONEBell developed the first working telephone and transmitted his

now famous quotation: “Watson, come here, I want to see you.”

C. TELEPHONE AND RADIO

1894

GUGLIELMOMARCHESE MARCONI

He discovered that electric waves travel through space and can produce an effect far from the point at which they originated.

YEAR INVENTOR INVENTIONS / CONTRIBUTIONS


GEORGE BOOLE

BOOLEAN ALGEBRAA binary algebra that

became important in the 20th century when binary computers were developed.

2. Electromechanical Computing


PEHR GEORG

SCHEUTZ

TABULATING MACHINEIt is capable of processing

fifteen-digit numbers, printing out results, and rounding off to eight digits.

1885

1889DORR

EUGENE FELT

COMPTOMETERA key-driven adding and

subtracting calculator.

COMPTOGRAPHContaining

built-in printer.



HERMAN HOLLERITH“Father of

Information Processing”

PUNCHED CARD

Hollerith is the first person to successfully

use punched cards – specifically for census taking.

1893OTTO

SHWEIGER- Swiss

engineer

MILLIONAIRE

The first efficient four-function calculator.



LEE DE FOREST

VACUUM TUBEIt is important because it

provided anelectrically controlled switch; a necessity for digital electronic computers.

IV. THE ELECTRONIC AGE:

1941 - Present

THIS ERA DEVELOPMENT IS OFTEN REFERRED TO IN REFERENCE TO THE DIFFERENT GENERATIONS OF COMPUTING DEVICES. EACH GENERATION OF COMPUTER IS CHARACTERIZED BY A MAJOR TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT THAT FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGED THE WAY COMPUTERS OPERATE, RESULTING IN INCREASINGLY SMALLER, CHEAPER, MORE POWERFUL AND MORE EFFICIENTAND RELIABLE DEVICES.


KONRAD ZUSE

Z3The first programmable

computer because it is capable of following

instructions. It is the first computer designed to

solve complex engineering equations, rather than basic arithmetic problems.

1942

HOWARD AIKEN

MARK 1The first stored program

computer. 8 feet tall, 51 feet long, 2 feet thick, weighed 5 tons, used about 750,000 parts, 500 miles of wires, 3-5 seconds per calculation.



JOHN ATANASOFF

CLIFFORD BERRY

ABC (ATANASOFF-BERRY COMPUTER)

The first electronic computer, it is the first computer to use electricity in the form of vacuum tubes to help make electric computation possible.

The ABC was used for solving complex systems of equations.

Electromechanical Age of Computers

Documents

programmable computer

binary computers

generation of computer

operation of computers

digital electronic computers

way computers

stored program computer

time electricity