History of computers

History of Computers

Table of Contents

History of Computerso Abacuso John Napier’s Boneo Slide Ruleo Blaise Ruleo Stepped Reckonero Punched Cardso Charles Babbageo Herman Holleritho The Mark I Computero The ENIACo The EDVACo The UNIVAC

History of Computer

Computer was invented because “Necessity is the mother of invention”

Man always searched for a fast calculating device.It took a long time to invent digital computers.A brief history behind the invention of computer in

discussed in further slides:

AbacusAbacus was first computing device.Abacus was an early aid for mathematical computations.Its only value is that it aids the memory of the human performing

the calculation.Abacus a wooden rack holding two horizontal wires with beads

strung on them. When these beads are moved around, according to the programming rules that are memorized by the user, all regular arithmetic problems can be done. 

John Napier’s Bone

John Napier was a Scottish mathematician.Napier developed a mechanical method for performing

multiplication and division. This method, known as "Napier's bones“.

It was based upon manipulation of rods with printed digits. The rods were made of bone, ivory, wood, or metal.

Napier's bones became a very popular device for calculating in England and western Europe, because most people lacked these mathematical skills.

Slide Rule

Napier's invention led directly to the slide rule. First built in England in 1632 and still in use in the 1960's by the

NASA engineers of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs which landed men on the moon.

Blaise Pascal

In 1642 Blaise Pascal, at age 19, invented the Pascaline. The device was called Pascal’s calculator or the Pascaline or the

Arithmetique. The first Pascaline could only handle 5-digit numbers, but later

Pascal developed 6 digit and 8 digit versions of the Pascaline.The machine contained different metal wheels. Each wheel

displayed digit 0 to 9. Pascal invented and build the first digital calculator

Stepped ReckonerJust a few years after Pascal, the German Gottfried Wilhelm

Leibniz managed to build a four-function (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) calculator that he called the stepped reckoner.

 Instead of gears, it employed fluted drums having ten flutes arranged around their circumference in a stair-step fashion.

Although the stepped reckoner employed the decimal number system (each drum had 10 flutes).

Leibniz was the first to advocate use of the binary number system which is fundamental to the operation of modern computers.

Punched Cards

In 1801 the Frenchman Joseph Marie Jacquard invented a power loom that could base its weave (and hence the design on the fabric) upon a pattern automatically read from punched wooden cards, held together in a long row by rope.

Descendents of these punched cards have been in use ever since.

Charles Babbage

In 1822, a mathematician Charles Babbage was proposing a steam driven calculating machine the size of a room, which he called the Difference Engine. 

This machine would be able to compute tables of numbers, such as logarithm tables.

In 1842, he developed the analytical Engine that was automatic. This engine could perform 60 additions per minute.

Herman Hollerith

In 1890 by Herman Hollerith, who worked for the US. Census Bureau.

They developed devices that could read the information that had been punched into the cards automatically, without human help.

Because of this, reading errors were reduced dramatically, work flow increased and most importantly, stacks of punched cards could be used as easily accessible memory of almost unlimited size. 

The Mark I Computer

One early success was the Harvard Mark I computer which was built as a partnership between Harvard and IBM in 1944.

This was the first programmable digital computer made in the U.S.

It was not a purely electronic computer. Instead the Mark I was constructed out of switches, relays,

rotating shafts, and clutches.The machine weighed 5 tons, incorporated 500 miles of wire, was 8 feet tall and 51 feet long, and had a 50 ft rotating shaft running its length, turned by a 5 horsepower electric motor. 

The ENIAC

ENIAC stands for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator.

It was invented by J.P.Eckert and John Mauchy in 1946.It could perform 5000 additions per second.It consumed 140 kilo watts of power.It was very heavy and large in size.It was first electronic computer.

The EDVAC

EDVAC stands for Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Calculator.

It was developed by Dr. John Von Neumann.It could store instructions and data.

The UNIVAC

UNIVAC stands for Universal Automatic Machine.It was first computer for commercial use.It was given to US Bureau of census in 1951.It was manufactured for both scientific and commercial

applications.

References

http://www.computersciencelab.com/ComputerHistory/History.htm http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401200105.html https://www.educalc.net/196488.page http://www.seattlecentral.edu/~ymoh/history_of_computer/history_of_comput

er.htm