Evolution of comptr

A PRESENTATION ON EVOLUTION OF COMPUTERS BY SHWETA THOMAS XI-A

PREVIEW

INTRODUCTION ABACUS NAPIER’S `LOGS’ AND `BONES’ PASCAL’S ADDING MACHINE LEIBNITZ’S CALCULATOR JACQUARD’S LOOM BABBAGE’S DIFFERENCE ENGINE BABBAGE’S ANALYTICAL ENGINE HOLLERITH’S MACHINE MARK-I

INTRODUCTION

WHEN MEN STARTED TO COUNT THE NUMBERS, THEY THOUGHT OF DEVICES THAT CAN TRACK OF THE NUMBERS. THE ABACUS MAY BE THE FIRST SUCH DEVICE AND IT TOOK HUNDREDS OF YEARS TO DEVELOP THE ABACUS TO MODERN DIGITAL COMPUTER. THE FIRST COMPUTER ORIGINATED AS AN ORDINARY CALCULATOR IN 19TH CENTURY.

THE CALCULATORS HAD ONLY LIMITED APPLICATIONS, PERFORMING MATHEMATICAL CALCULATIONS LIKE ADDITION, SUBTRACTION, MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION.

STORAGE OF DATA WERE NOT POSSIBLE IN THESE DEVICES. NOW THE MODERN COMPUTERS HELP MEN IN ALMOST ALL COMPLICATED AREAS LIKE FLIGHT CONTROL OF AEROPLANES AND EVEN IN SPACE SHUTTLES.

THE COMPUTERS DO NOT COMPETE WITH MEN, BUT ACTUALLY HELP HIM BY INCREASING THE PACE OF HIS COMPLICATED LIFESTYLE. IT RECEIVES DATA, PROCESSES DATA AND RETRIEVES DATA IN A LIGHTNING SPEED COMPARING WITH HUMAN BRAIN. THUS IT BECOMES A MIRACLE-HELPER FOR ALL HUMAN BEINGS

ABACUS

CHINESE INVENTED CALCULATING DEVICE CALLED ABACUS

ALSO KNOWN AS `SOROBAN’ PERFORM ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION

WOODEN RACK HOLDING TWO HORIZONTAL WIRES WITH HEADS STRUNG ON THEM

RULES MEMORIZED BY THE USER

REGULAR ARITHMETIC PROBLEMS CAN BE DONE

NAPIER’S `LOGS’ AND `BONES’

JOHN NAPIER OF MERCHISTON (1550 – 4 APRIL 1617) – ALSO SIGNED AS NEPER, NEPAIR – NAMED  MARVELLOUS MERCHISTON, WAS A SCOTTISH LANDOWNER KNOWN AS A  MATHEMATICIAN,  PHYSICIST, ASTRONOMER AND  ASTROLOGER. HE WAS THE 8TH LAIRD OF MERCHISTOUN.

JOHN NAPIER IS BEST KNOWN AS THE DISCOVERER OF LOGARITHMS. HE WAS ALSO THE INVENTOR OF THE SO-CALLED “NAPIER’S BONES". NAPIER ALSO MADE COMMON THE USE OF THE DECIMAL POINT IN ARITHMETIC AND MATHEMATICS.

CONT’D...

NAPIER’S `LOGS’ AND `BONES’ (CONTD FROM PREVIOUS SLIDE)

NAPIER PUBLISHED HIS VERSION OF RODS IN A WORK PRINTED IN  EDINBURG, SCOTLAND , AT THE END OF 1617 ENTITLED RABDOLOGIÆ .

USING THE MULTIPLICATION TABLES EMBEDDED IN THE RODS, MULTIPLICATION CAN BE REDUCED TO ADDITION OPERATIONS AND DIVISION TO SUBTRACTIONS.

MORE ADVANCED USE OF THE RODS CAN EVEN EXTRACT  SQUAREROOTS. NOTE THAT NAPIER'S BONES ARE NOT THE SAME AS LOGARITHMS, WITH WHICH NAPIER'S NAME IS ALSO ASSOCIATED.

PASCAL’S ADDING MACHINE

BLAISE PASCAL(1623-1662) WAS FRANCE’S MOST CELEBRATED MATHEMATICIAN AND PHYSICIST AND RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHER.

HE WAS A CHILD PRODIGY WHO WAS EDUCATED BY HIS FATHER.  HE WORKED ON CONIC SECTIONS AND PROJECTIVE GEOMETRY AND HE LAID THE FOUNDATIONS FOR THE THEORY OF PROBABILITY. 

IN 1642, AT THE AGE OF 18, PASCAL INVENTED AND BUILD THE FIRST DIGITAL CALCULATOR AS A MEANS OF HELPING HIS FATHER PERFORM TEDIOUS TAX ACCOUNTING.  PASCAL’S FATHER WAS THE TAX COLLECTOR FOR THE TOWNSHIP OF ROUEN.

THE DEVICE WAS CALLED PASCAL’S CALCULATOR OR THE PASCALINE OR THE ARITHMETIQUE.  PASCAL CONTINUED TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS TO HIS DESIGN THROUGH THE NEXT DECADE AND BUILT FIFTY PASCALINE MACHINES IN TOTAL.

CONT’D....

PASCAL’S ADDING MACHINE (CONT’D FROM PREVIOUS SLIDE)

THE CARRY INVOLVES RAISING THE VALUE OF THE NEXT DIGIT WHEN THE CURRENT  DIGIT  PASSES  FROM  9  TO  0.  THE CARRY COULD  EASILY  HAVE BEEN  IMPLEMENTED  WITH  A  LONG  TOOTH  DESIGNED  TO  ROTATE  THE NEXT GEAR AS THE CURRENT GEAR PASSES FROM 9 TO 0. HOWEVER  IF FIFTY GEARS WERE ALL LINED UP IN THE 9 POSITION EVERY GEAR'S LONG TOOTH WOULD BE READY TO TURN THE NEXT GEAR. A PERSON WOULD HAVE TO APPLY THE FORCE NECESSARY TO TURN FIFTY GEARS TO TURN THE FIRST GEAR FROM 9 TO 0.

PASCAL'S SOLUTION WAS  TO HAVE EACH INCREMENT OF A GEAR RAISE A WEIGHT BY A SMALL AMOUNT. WHEN THE GEAR PASSED FROM 9 TO 0 THE WEIGHT  WAS  RELEASED.  IT  WAS  THE  FALLING  OF  THE  WEIGHT  THAT TURNED  THE  NEXT  GEAR  PRODUCING  THE CARRY.  PASCAL EMPHATICALLY  CLAIMED  WITH  THIS  METHOD  "IT  IS  JUST  AS  EASY  TO MOVE ONE THOUSAND OR TEN THOUSAND DIALS, ALL AT THE SAME ONE TIME".

LEIBNITZ’S CALCULATOR

GOTTFRIED WILHELM LEIBNIZ  (JULY 1, 1646 – NOVEMBER 14, 1716) WAS A GERMAN MATHEMATICIAN AND PHILOSOPHER 

HE IMPROVED AN ADDING MACHINE AND CONSTRUCTED A NEW MACHINE IN 1671 .IT WORKED ON THE PRINCIPLE THAT MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY REPETITIVE ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION RESPECTIVELY.

IN 1694,LEIBNIZ MODIFIED HIS CALCULATOR. IT WAS ALSO KNOWN AS STEPPED RECKONER. IT CONSISTED OF A DRUM UPON WHICH TEETH WERE MOUNTED, NINE AT ONE END. A GEAR WHEEL WAS POSITIONED ON THE SHAFT MOUNTED ALONG THE DRUM. THE GEAR WHEEL COULD BE MOVED TO MESH IN WITH THE TEETH OF THE DRUM AT ANY POSITION. FOR EXAMPLE TO MULTIPLY BY 5 THE GEAR WHEEL WAS MOVED 5 POSITIONS ON THE DRUM. 

JACQUARD’S LOOM

THE JACQUARD LOOM IS A MECHANICAL LOOM, INVENTED BY JOSEPH MARIE JACQUARD IN 1801, THAT SIMPLIFIES THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING TEXTILES WITH COMPLEX PATTERNS SUCH AS BROCADE, DAMASK AND  MATELASSE. 

THE LOOM IS CONTROLLED BY PUNCHED CARDS WITH PUNCHED HOLES, EACH ROW OF WHICH CORRESPONDS TO ONE ROW OF THE DESIGN. MULTIPLE ROWS OF HOLES ARE PUNCHED ON EACH CARD AND THE MANY CARDS THAT COMPOSE THE DESIGN OF THE TEXTILE ARE STRUNG TOGETHER IN ORDER.

IT IS BASED ON EARLIER INVENTIONS BY THE FRENCHMEN BASILE BOUCHON (1725), JEAN BAPTISTE FALCON (1728) AND JACQUES VAUCANSON (1740)

BABBAGE’S DIFFERENCE ENGINE

CHARLES BABBAGE,FRS (26 DECEMBER 1791 – 18 OCTOBER 1871)] WAS AN ENGLISH MATHEMATICIAN, PHILOSOPHER, INVENTOR AND MECHANICAL ENGINEER WHO ORIGINATED THE CONCEPT OF A PROGRAMMABLE COMPUTER.

CONSIDERED A ‘’FATHER OF THE COMPUTER’’ BABBAGE IS CREDITED WITH INVENTING THE FIRST MECHANICAL COMPUTER THAT EVENTUAALY LED TOMORE COMPLEX DESIGNS.

PARTS OF HIS UNCOMPLETED MECHANISMS ARE ON DISPLAY IN THE LONDON SCIENCE MUSEUM.

IN 1991, A PERFECTLY FUNCTIONING DIFFERENCE ENGINE WAS CONSTRUCTED FROM BABBAGE'S ORIGINAL PLANS.

BUILT TO TOLERANCES ACHIEVABLE IN THE 19TH CENTURY, THE SUCCESS OF THE FINISHED ENGINE INDICATED THAT BABBAGE'S MACHINE WOULD HAVE WORKED.

NINE YEARS LATER, THE SCIENCE MUSEUM COMPLETED THEPRINTER BABBAGE HAD DESIGNED FOR THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE.

BABBAGE’S ANALYTICAL ENGINE

THE ANALYTICAL ENGINE WAS A PROPOSED MECHANICAL GENERAL-PURPOSE COMPUTER ALSO DESIGNED BY CHARLES BABBAGE.

IT WAS FIRST DESCRIBED IN 1837 AS THE SUCCESSOR TO BABBAGE'S DIFFERENCE ENGINE, A DESIGN FOR A MECHANICAL CALCULATOR. THE ANALYTICAL ENGINE INCORPORATED AN ARITHMETICAL UNIT, CONTROL FLOW IN THE FORM OF CONDITIONAL BRANCHING AND LOOPS, AND INTEGRATED MEMORY, MAKING IT THE FIRST TURING-COMPLETE DESIGN FOR A GENERAL-PURPOSE COMPUTER.

BABBAGE WAS NEVER ABLE TO COMPLETE CONSTRUCTION OF ANY OF HIS MACHINES DUE TO CONFLICTS WITH HIS CHIEF ENGINEER AND INADEQUATE FUNDING. IT WAS NOT UNTIL 100 YEARS LATER, IN THE 1940S, THAT THE FIRST GENERAL-PURPOSE COMPUTERS WERE ACTUALLY BUILT.

HOLLERITH’S MACHINE

HERMAN HOLLERITH (FEBRUARY 29, 1860 – NOVEMBER 17, 1929) WAS AN AMERICAL STATISTICIAN WHO DEVELOPED A MECHANICAL TABULATOR BASED ON PUNCHEDCARDS TO RAPIDLY TABULATE STATISTICS FROM MILLIONS OF PIECES OF DATA.

HE WAS THE FOUNDER OF ONE OF THE COMPANIES THAT LATER MERGED AND BECAME IBM.

AT THE URGING OF JOHN SHAW BILLINGS, HOLLERITH DEVELOPED A MECHANISM USING ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS TO TRIGGER A COUNTER, RECORDING INFORMATION. KEY IDEA WAS THAT DATA COULD BE CODED NUMERICALLY.

HOLLERITH DETERMINED THAT IF NUMBERS COULD BE PUNCHED IN SPECIFIED LOCATIONS ON A CARD, IN THE NOW-FAMILIAR ROWS AND COLUMNS, THEN THE CARDS COULD BE COUNTED OR SORTED MECHANICALLY AND THE DATA RECORDED.

A DESCRIPTION OF THIS SYSTEM, AN ELECTRIC TABULATING SYSTEM (1889), WAS SUBMITTED BY HOLLERITH TO COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AS HIS DOCTORAL THESIS, AND IS REPRINTED IN RANDELL'S BOOK. ON JANUARY 8, 1889, HOLLERITH WAS ISSUED U.S. PATENT 395,782, CLAIM 2

MARK-I

HOWARD HATHAWAY AIKEN (MARCH 8, 1900 – MARCH 14, 1973) WAS A PIONEER IN COMPUTER BEING THE ORIGINAL CONCEPTUAL DESIGNER BEHIND IBM’S HARVARD MARK-I

BY THE LATE 1930S PUNCHED-CARD MACHINE TECHNIQUES HAD BECOME SO WELL ESTABLISHED AND RELIABLE THAT HOWARD AIKEN, IN COLLABORATION WITH ENGINEERS AT IBM, UNDERTOOK CONSTRUCTION OF A LARGE AUTOMATIC DIGITAL COMPUTER BASED ON STANDARD IBM ELECTROMECHANICAL PARTS. 

AIKEN'S MACHINE, CALLED THE HARVARD MARK I, HANDLED 23-DECIMAL-PLACE NUMBERS (WORDS) AND COULD PERFORM ALL FOUR ARITHMETIC OPERATIONS.

 MOREOVER, IT HAD SPECIAL BUILT-IN PROGRAMS, OR SUBROUTINES, TO HANDLE LOGARITHMS AND TRIGONOMETRIC FUNCTIONS. 

THE MARK I WAS ORIGINALLY CONTROLLED FROM PRE-PUNCHED PAPER TAPE WITHOUT PROVISION FOR REVERSAL, SO THAT AUTOMATIC "TRANSFER OF CONTROL" INSTRUCTIONS COULD NOT BE PROGRAMMED. OUTPUT WAS BY CARD PUNCH AND ELECTRIC TYPEWRITER.

 ALTHOUGH THE MARK I USED IBM ROTATING COUNTER WHEELS AS KEY COMPONENTS IN ADDITION TO ELECTROMAGNETIC RELAYS, THE MACHINE WAS CLASSIFIED AS A RELAY COMPUTER. IT WAS SLOW, REQUIRING 3 TO 5 SECONDS FOR A MULTIPLICATION, BUT IT WAS FULLY AUTOMATIC AND COULD COMPLETE LONG COMPUTATIONS WITHOUT HUMAN INTERVENTION.

 THE HARVARD MARK I WAS THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF COMPUTERS DESIGNED AND BUILT UNDER AIKEN'S DIRECTION.

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