History of Computers

Abacus – 1100 BC

Slide rule - 1617Mechanical calculator - 1642

Automatic loom (punched cards) - 1804

Babbage’s computer – 1830sBabbage’s computer – 1830sBoolean logic – 1850sBoolean logic – 1850s

Hollerith’s electric tabulator - 1880Hollerith’s electric tabulator - 1880Analog computer – 1927Analog computer – 1927

EDVAC – 1946EDVAC – 1946ENIAC - 1947ENIAC - 1947

Transistor - 1947Transistor - 1947

Integrated circuit – late 1950sIntegrated circuit – late 1950sUNIVAC – 1951UNIVAC – 1951

Microprocessor – 1971Microprocessor – 1971Altair 8880 – 1975Altair 8880 – 1975

Apple II – 1977Apple II – 1977IBM PC – 1981IBM PC – 1981

World Wide Web – 1990sWorld Wide Web – 1990s

• First true calculating machine

• In use since 1100 B.C.• Still used in some countries

• In 1617, Scottish mathematician John Napier created a device to perform logarithm calculators

• Soon after an English clergyman named William Oughtred created a device based on this and named it the “slide rule”

• It remained in use for the next 350 years until the electronic calculator was invented.

• In the early 1830s, English mathematician Charles Babbage designed the analytical engine.• Intended to be used to create math tables for navigation at sea

• Completely mechanical and powered by steam

• Could be programmed to perform different tasks

• First major development in computing hardware came after the results of the 1880 US Census took 7 years to tabulate

• US Census Bureau conducted a contest for a faster method, and Herman Hollerith invented the punched card.

• He formed company which later became IBM

• Mark I and ENIAC arrived onthe scene during WWII. They were used to calculate weapon trajectories and help build atomic bombs.

• The early computers used punched cards

• They were VERY expensive and used enough electricity to light up a small town.

• In 1951, the UNIVAC was first mass-produced. It was the first general purpose computer.

• In 1953, IBM started selling computers

• VERY expensive and HUGE – required large rooms and a lot of A/C

• Used vacuum tubes (slow/hot, similar to light bulbs)

Grace Hopper coined the term “bug” when there was a computer malfunction. The original “bug” was a moth that was lodged in the circuitry and created a hardware problem in a Mark I computer. Hopper “debugged” the computer byremoving the moth.

• Major breakthrough

• In 1947, engineers from Bell Laboratories invented the transistor

• It replaced the vacuum tubes

• Much smaller, faster and more reliable

• Relied on other electronic components to form circuits

Portable transistor radio

• An even bigger breakthrough

• In the late 1950s, engineers from Texas Instruments created integrated circuit

• Instead of soldering components after the are made, they were manufactured all together on a chip of silicon

• Also known as the microchip

• Advanced the integrated circuit even further

• In the 1971, engineers from Intel Corporation designed the first microprocessor

• All chips needed for the CPU were put together on one chip

• Made the PC possible

• Altair 8800 created in 1975 as a mail-order kit

• Also in 1975, Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Monte Davidoff wrote BASIC programming language

• Meanwhile Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs were busy creating the Apple II in 1977

• At this time Visicalc (spreadsheet program) was created for the Apple

• In 1981, the IBM PC was created and shortly after Microsoft was formed and the MS-DOS operating system was created

• In the 1990s the internet was born. This was a very significant revolution

• The World Wide Web allowed us to connect to servers across the world

• We can now to go to our favorite websites, to order products, to communicate via email or facebook, etc.

• In early 2000’s there was an explosion of handheld computers

• Examples are GPS units, tablets, smart phones

• Smart phones can now do the following: handle phone calls, take pictures, run apps, do calculations, browse the internet, etc.

• Personal translators act as speaking dictionaries

• “Cloud computing” refers to the cloud of powerful computers (servers) on the internet

• The servers provide “temporary” software that we can use at home

• Examples: tax software, photoshop

• Software is stored inPC memory (not yourhard drive)

As a group, take the different events in computer history and place them in the correct order

How has the computer affected society, science and technology?

Abacus – 1100 BC

Slide rule - 1617Mechanical calculator - 1642

Automatic loom (punched cards) - 1804

Babbage’s computer – 1830sBabbage’s computer – 1830sBoolean logic – 1850sBoolean logic – 1850s

Hollerith’s electric tabulator - 1880Hollerith’s electric tabulator - 1880Analog computer – 1927Analog computer – 1927

EDVAC – 1946EDVAC – 1946ENIAC - 1947ENIAC - 1947

Transistor - 1947Transistor - 1947

Integrated circuit – late 1950sIntegrated circuit – late 1950sUNIVAC – 1951UNIVAC – 1951

Microprocessor – 1971Microprocessor – 1971Altair 8880 – 1975Altair 8880 – 1975

Apple II – 1977Apple II – 1977IBM PC – 1981IBM PC – 1981

World Wide Web – 1990s World Wide Web – 1990s