The History of Computation

The History of ComputationDr. Sidney MarshallAssociate professorRochester Institute of Technology

Why Do We Calculate? Ancient HistoryAncient HistoryMeasurement and Surveying - Nile RiverAstronomy - Predicting SpringBusiness Records

The AbacusOriginally stones on counting boardChinese "swan pan" in China since 1300 A.D.Imported as Japanese sorobanIn 1946 the best abacus user beat the best electrically driven mechanical calculator in a contest

Chinese Swan Pan

Japanese Soroban

Russian Peasant MultiplicationOnly requires doubling and halving (duplation and mediation)

Multiplication - continuedHow to do itWrite the two numbers at topOn successive rows halve the first number and double the second numberStop when you get to 1Cross off every row with an even number in the first columnAdd up the remaining numbers in the second column

Multiplication Example: 21 27 10 54 5 108 2 216 1 432 567 = 21 x 27

Finger ReckoningEducated people knew up to 5 x 5To multiply two numbers greater than 5:Extend fingers for amount over 5Answer is sum of extended fingers followed by product of "closed" fingers7 x 8 = (2+3) and (3 times 2) = 5 6

Tally SticksNotched sticks used throughout history for record keepingUsed by English Government for accountsSticks were notched and split length-wise into two pieces for each partyAccounts "tallied" by matching sticks

Tally SticksTally for 11 18s 8d from the reign of Henry III to the Reeve of LedicumbeA tally for 6s 8d issued by the Treasurer of Edward I to the Sheriff of Lincolnshire

Tally Stick Fire of 1834The order went out that the tally sticks should be burned in a stove in the House of Lords. The stove, overgorged with these preposterous sticks, set fire to the panelling; the panelling set fire to the House of Commons; the two houses of government were reduced to ashes.

Fire caused by burning tally sticks

The QuadrantA portable analog computer for trigonometrical and astronomical calculationsCalculations were performed using dividers to measure and transfer distances

The SectorA hinged version of the quadrantUsed for artillery calculationsCalculations could be performed by measuring distances with a divider

Napier's Bones (1550-1617)Tiles containing a column of the multiplication table

Napier's invention of Logarithms 1614Method of prosthaphaeresis sin a sin b = [cos(a-b) - cos(a+b)]/2Using Napier's Logarithms log ab = log a + log b

Slide RulesBased on logarithmsCould do multiplication, division, powers, roots, and trigonometric computationsNearly 3 decimal digits of accuracyAll engineers used to have one

Slide Rule OperationAdding lengths on a logarithm scale is equivalent to multiplying

Slide Rules

Slide RulesMore accuracy required a longer scale or more accurate mechanismMany types of slide rules were inventedspiral, cylindrical, long steel tapes, magnifying devices

Cylindrical Slide Rule

Spiral Slide Rule

Graphical computingplanimetersintegrators

The Planimeter

Wilhelm Schickard (1592-1635)First workable mechanical adding machine

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)Several dials like telephone for entering numbers9's complement used for subtraction

Mathematical Tables - 1780'sBig effort to produce accurate tablesPowers and rootsLogarithms (addition/subtraction logarithms, quarter squares)Trigonometric and Exponential tables for geometry Most scientific calculations carried out with the help of tables

Jacquard's Loom (1752-1834)Punched cards controlled weaving

Charles Babbage (1791-1871)Designed many mechanical calculating machinesHis "Difference Engine" was designed to calculate tablesDesigned the "Analytical Engine" with many of the properties of our modern computers

Method of Differences0.7242758696 0.00081865150.7250945211 -0.0000015403 0.0008171112 0.00000000580.7259116323 -0.0000015345 0.0008155767 0.00000000580.7267272090 -0.0000015287 0.0008140480 0.00000000570.7275412570 -0.0000015230 0.0008125250 0.00000000570.7283537820 -0.0000015173 0.0008110077 0.00000000570.7291647897 -0.0000015117 0.00080949600.7299742857

Babbage's Difference Engine

Babbage's Analytical Engine

Dorr Felt - Comptometer (1886)Designed (out of a macaroni box!) a reliable carrying mechanism

Mechanical Calculating MachinesThe 1900's development of many calculators and cash registersSome were hand powered and some were driven with an electrical motorCalculators were the workhorse for scientific computation in the 1950sA computer was a person operating a mechanical calculator

Monroe calculator

Mechanical Differential AnalyzersVannevar Bush developed the Differential Analyzer - 1930'sAll mechanical machine for solving differential equationsSolved the equation dz = y dxElectrical versions were made laterOP amps and analog computersDigital differential analyzers

Bush Differential Analyzer

Card Punch equipment1880 census results available in 1888For the 1890 census Hollerith developed a punched card systemThe 1900 census done 1 year 7 months after the results were in

Uses of "Tabulating" CardsBusiness recordsSubscription cardsBillingCode BreakingAtom Bomb Calculations

IBM Card

IBM Punched Card machines

Punch Card Control Panel

The telephone companyLargest distributed relay computerSpecification for telephone office was 1/2 hour outage in 40 yearsGeorge Stibitz built a relay computer in 1939 with telephone relays

The "modern" computer eraWorld War IICode BreakingArtillery firing tablesAtom Bomb Calculations

The ENIAC - 1944

The IBM 704First "modern" mass produced computer

Storage TechnologyMercury Delay LinesWilliams Storage TubeMagnetic Core MemorySemiconductor MemoryThe Rule of 4

Core Memory

Off-line StoragePunched CardsPaper tapeMagnetic TapeMagnetic DrumMagnetic Disk

FORTRAN 1954-1957Written for the IBM 7044096 words of 36-bit memoryWritten by a team of programmers lead by John W. BackusStill in use today

Fortran Program

C THIS PROGRAM CALCULATES BINOMIAL COEFFICIENTSC DIMENSION NBINOM(20) 1 FORMAT(20I4) DO 10 K=1,20 10 NBINOM(K) = 0 NBINOM(1) = 1 DO 30 K=1,20 DO 20 J=K,2,-1 20 NBINOM(J) = NBINOM(J) + NBINOM(J-1) 30 PRINT 1, (NBINOM(I),I=1,K) END

The SAGE SystemThe AN/FSQ-7 computer built by IBM for the Air Force in the late 1950sIt consumed 1,000,000 watts of powerDesigned as a computer aid for intercepting enemy bombers

Sage - contRequired a building to house itAbout 30 were built113 ton computerWhen deployed in 1958 this was the first large-scale, real-time digital computer supporting a major military mission

Sage AN/FSQ-7 Computer

Sage operator console

LGP-30Serial DesignMagnetic drum101 vacuum tubesoptimizing by placing data and instructions around the drum60 200 instructions / second

Dartmouth Timesharing1961-2LGP-30 DOPE1964Basic - Tom Kurtz, John KemenyDartmouth Timesharing1965-1967 DTSS II

Computation Power IncreaseCircuit simulation takes a kiloflopOptics design takes a megaflopWeather prediction takes 8 teraflops

The change in computation power changes the possibilities for calculation

ARPANETTotally new concept for connecting computers together

Valuable vs FreeMemoryBandwidthCyclesComputers

ConclusionThere has been an amazing growth of computer power in less than 50 yearsControl of individual vs control of industryIntellectual property rightsProbably the last free decadeGovernments will probably side with industryRise of DatabasesWho will control information and databases?

ReferencesProf. Tim Bergin at American UniversityA History of Computing Technology by Michael WilliamsIBM Historical ArchivesComputer History MuseumGoogle!!