© J Wagner March 20, 2000
ABACUS
4th Century B.C.
The abacus, a simple counting aid, may have been invented in Babylonia (now Iraq) in the fourth century B.C.
This device allows users to make computations using a system of sliding beads arranged on a rack.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
BLAISE PASCAL
(1623 - 1662)
In 1642, the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal invented a calculating device that would come to be called the "Adding Machine".
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
BLAISE PASCAL
(1623 - 1662)
Originally called a "numerical wheel calculator" or the "Pascaline", Pascal's invention utilized a train of 8 moveable dials or cogs to add sums of up to 8 figures long. As one dial turned 10 notches - or a complete revolution - it mechanically turned the next dial.
Pascal's mechanical Adding Machine automated the process of calculation. Although slow by modern standards, this machine did provide a fair degree of accuracy and speed.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
CHARLES BABBAGE
(1791 - 1871)
Born in 1791, Charles Babbage was an English mathematician and professor.
In 1822, he persuaded the British government to finance his design to build a machine that would calculate tables for logarithms.
With Charles Babbage's creation of the "Analytical Engine", (1833) computers took the form of a general purpose machine.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
HOWARD AIKEN
(1900 - 1973)
Aiken thought he could create a modern and functioning model of Babbage's Analytical Engine.
He succeeded in securing a grant of 1 million dollars for his proposed Automatic Sequence Calculator; the Mark I for short. From IBM.
In 1944, the Mark I was "switched" on. Aiken's colossal machine spanned 51 feet in length and 8 feet in height. 500 meters of wiring were required to connect each
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
HOWARD AIKEN
(1900 - 1973)
The Mark I did transform Babbage's dream into reality and didsucceed in putting IBM's name on the forefront of the burgeoning computer industry. From 1944 on, modern computers would forever be associated with digital intelligence.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
ENIAC
1946
Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator
Under the leadership of J. Presper Eckert(1919 - 1995) and John W. Mauchly (1907 -1980) the team produced a machine that computed at speeds 1,000 times faster than the Mark I was capable of only 2 years earlier.
Using 18,00-19,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors and 5 million soldered joints this massive instrument required the output of a small power station to operate it.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
ENIAC
1946
It could do nuclear physics calculations (in two hours) which it would have taken 100 engineers a year to do by hand.
The system's program could be changed by rewiring a panel.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
TRANSISTOR
1948
In the laboratories of Bell Telephone, John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockleydiscovered the "transfer resistor"; later labelledthe transistor.
Advantages:
increased reliability
1/13 size of vacuum tubes
consumed 1/20 of the electricity of vacuum tubes
were a fraction of the cost
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
TRANSISTOR
1948
This tiny device had a huge impact on and extensive implications for modern computers. In 1956, the transistor won its creators the
Noble Peace Prize for their invention.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
ALTAIR
1975
The invention of the transistor made computers smaller, cheaper and more reliable. Therefore, the stage was set for the entrance of the computer into the domestic realm. In 1975, the age of personal computers commenced.Under the leadership of Ed Roberts the Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Company (MITS) wanted to design a computer 'kit' for the home hobbyist.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
ALTAIR
1975
Based on the Intel 8080 processor, capable of controlling 64 kilobyes of memory, the MITS Altair - as the invention was later called - was debuted on the cover of the January edition of Popular Electronicsmagazine.Presenting the Altair as an unassembled kit kept costs to a minimum. Therefore, the company was able to offer this model for only $395. Supply could not keep up with demand.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
IBM (PC)
1981
On August 12, 1981 IBM announced its own personal computer.Using the 16 bit Intel 8088 microprocessor, allowed for increased speed and huge amounts of memory. Unlike the Altair that was sold as unassembled computer kits, IBM sold its "ready-made" machine through retailers and
by qualified salespeople.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
IBM (PC)
1981
To satisfy consumer appetites and to increase usability, IBM gave prototype IBM PCs to a number of major software companies.For the first time, small companies and individuals who never would have imagined owning a "personal" computer were now opened to the computer world.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
MACINTOSH
(1984)
IBM's major competitor was a company lead by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs; the Apple Computer Inc.
The "Lisa" was the result of their competitive thrust. This system differed from its predecessors in its use of a "mouse" - then a quite foreign computer instrument - in lieu of manually typing commands.However, the outrageous price of the Lisa kept it out of reach for many computer
buyers.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
MACINTOSH
(1984)
Apple's brainchild was the Macintosh. Like the Lisa, the Macintosh too would make use of a graphical user interface. Introduced in January 1984 it was an immediate success. The GUI (Graphical User Interface) made the system easy to use.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
MACINTOSH
(1984)
The Apple Macintosh debuts in 1984. It features a simple, graphical interface, uses the 8-MHz, 32-bit Motorola 68000 CPU, and has a built-in 9-inch B/W screen.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
FIRST GENERATION
(1945-1956)
First generation computers were characterized by
the fact that operating instructions were made-to-
order for the specific task for which the computer was
to be used. Each computer had a different binary-
coded program called a machine language that told it
how to operate. This made the computer difficult to
program and limited its versatility and speed. Other
distinctive features of first generation computers were
the use of vacuum tubes (responsible for their
breathtaking size) and magnetic drums for data
storage.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
SECOND GENERATION
(1956-1963)
Throughout the early 1960's, there were
a number of commercially successful second
generation computers used in business,
universities, and government from
companies such as Burroughs, Control Data,
Honeywell, IBM, Sperry-Rand, and others.
These second generation computers were
also of solid state design, and contained
transistors in place of vacuum tubes.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
SECOND GENERATION
(1956-1963)
They also contained all the components we
associate with the modern day computer: printers,
tape storage, disk storage, memory, operating systems,
and stored programs. One important example was the
IBM 1401, which was universally accepted throughout
industry, and is considered by many to be the Model T
of the computer industry. By 1965, most large business
routinely processed financial information using second
generation computers.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
THIRD GENERATION
(1965-1971)
Though transistors were clearly an improvement
over the vacuum tube, they still generated a great deal
of heat, which damaged the computer's sensitive
internal parts. The quartz rock eliminated this
problem. Jack Kilby, an engineer with Texas
Instruments, developed the integrated circuit (IC) in
1958. The IC combined three electronic components
onto a small silicon disc, which was made from quartz.
Scientists later managed to fit even more components
on a single chip, called a semiconductor.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
THIRD GENERATION
(1965-1971)
As a result, computers became ever smaller as
more components were squeezed onto the chip.
Another third-generation development included the
use of an operating system that allowed machines to
run many different programs at once with a central
program that monitored and coordinated the
computer's memory.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
FOURTH GENERATION
(1971-Present)
In 1981, IBM introduced its personal
computer (PC) for use in the home, office
and schools. The 1980's saw an expansion in
computer use in all three arenas as clones of
the IBM PC made the personal computer
even more affordable. The number of
personal computers in use more than
doubled from 2 million in 1981 to 5.5 million
in 1982.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
FOURTH GENERATION
(1971-Present)
Ten years later, 65 million PCs were being used.
Computers continued their trend toward a smaller
size, working their way down from desktop to laptop
computers (which could fit inside a briefcase) to
palmtop (able to fit inside a breast pocket). In direct
competition with IBM's PC was Apple's Macintosh
line, introduced in 1984. Notable for its user-friendly
design, the Macintosh offered an operating system
that allowed users to move screen icons instead of
typing instructions
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
FIFTH GENERATION
(Future)
Many advances in the science of computer design
and technology are coming together to enable the
creation of fifth-generation computers. Two such
engineering advances are parallel processing, which
replaces von Neumann's single central processing
unit design with a system harnessing the power of
many CPUs to work as one. Another advance is
superconductor technology, which allows the flow of
electricity with little or no resistance, greatly
improving the speed of information flow.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
FIFTH GENERATION
(Future)
Computers today have some attributes of
fifth generation computers. For example,
expert systems assist doctors in making
diagnoses by applying the problem-solving
steps a doctor might use in assessing a
patient's needs. It will take several more
years of development before expert systems
are in widespread use.
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Information was gathered from the following sites:http://www.pbs.org/nerds/timeline/micro.html (Triumph Of The Nerds)http://www.digitalcentury.com/encyclo/update/comp_hd.html(Digital Century)http://humlink.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~dalberto/comweb.htm(History of Computers)
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
Charles Babbage• English inventor
• 1791-1871
• taught math at
Cambridge University
• invented a viable
mechanical computer
equivalent to modern
digital computers
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
Babbage’s first computer
difference engine
built in early 1800’s
special purpose calculator
naval navigation charts
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
Babbage’s second computer• Analytical engine
– general-purpose
– used binary system
– punched cards as input
– branch on result of
previous instruction
– Ada Lovelace (first
programmer)
– machined parts not
accurate enough
– never quite completedanalytical engine, 1834
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
invention of the light bulb, 1878• Sir Joseph Wilson Swan
– English physicist and electrician
– first public exhibit of a light bulb in 1878
• Thomas Edison
– American inventor, working independently of Swan
– public exhibit of a light bulb in 1879
– had a conducting filament mounted in a glass bulb
from which the air was evacuated leaving a vacuum
– passing electricity through the filament caused it to
heat up, become incandescent and radiate light
– the vacuum prevented the filament from oxidizing and
burning up
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
Edison’s legacy• Edison continued to experiment with light
bulbs
• in 1883, he detected electrons flowing through
the vacuum of a light bulb
– from the lighted filament
– to a metal plate mounted inside the bulb
• this became known as the Edison Effect
• he did not develop this any further
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
invention of the diode (late
1800’s)• John Ambrose Fleming
– an English physicist
– studied Edison effect
– to detect radio waves and to convert them to
electricity
• developed a two-element vacuum tube
– known as a diode
• electrons flow within the tube
– from the negatively charged cathode
– to the positively charged anode
• today, a diode is used in circuits as a rectifier
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
the switching vacuum tube, 1906
• Lee de Forest introduced a third electrode into the vacuum tube
– American inventor
• the new vacuum tube was called a triode
– new electrode was called a grid
• this tube could be used as both an amplifier and a switch
many of the early radio transmitters were built by de Forest using triodestriodes revolutionized the field of broadcastingtheir ability to act as switches would later be important in digital computing
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
on/off switches in digital
computers• earliest:
– electromechanical relays
• solenoid with mechanical contact points
• physical switch closes when electricity animates magnet
• 1940’s:
– vacuum tubes
• no physical contacts to break or get dirty
• became available in early 1900’s
• mainly used in radios at first
• 1950’s to present
– transistors
• invented at Bell Labs in 1948
• John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley
• Nobel prize, 1956
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
transistor evolution• first transistor made from
materials including a paper clip
and a razor blade
later packaged in small IC’s
eventually came VLSI
Very Large Scale Integration
millions of transistors per chip
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
the integrated circuit (IC)
• invented separately by 2 people ~1958
– Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments
– Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor
(1958-59)
• 1974
– Intel introduces the 8080 processor
– one of the first “single-chip”
microprocessors
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
Moore’s law• deals with steady rate of miniaturizion of
technology
• named for Intel co-founder Gordon Moore
• not really a law
– more a “rule of thumb”
• a practical way to think about something
• observation that chip density about
doubles every 18 months
– also, prices decline
– first described in 1965
– experts predict this trend might continue until
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
transistors - building blocks of computers
• microprocessors contain many transistors
– (ENIAC): 19,500 vacuum tubes and relays
– Intel 8088 processor (1st PC): 29,000 transistors
– Intel Pentium II processor: 7 million transistors
– Intel Pentium III processor: 28 million transistors
– Intel Pentium 4 processor: 42 million transistors
• logically, each transistor acts as an on-off switch
• transistors combined to implement logic gates
– AND, OR, NOT
• gates combined to build higher-level structures
– adder, multiplexor, decoder, register, …
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
Electrical Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), 1940’s
• an early
computer
• developed at
UPenn
• Size: 30’ x 50’
room
• 18,000 vacuum
tubes
• 1500 relays
• weighed 30 tons
• designers
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
Intel 8088 microprocessor (single
chip)
• used in first IBM personal computer
• IBM PC released in 1981
• 4.77 MHz clock
• 16 bit integers, with an 8-bit data bus
– transfers took two steps (a byte at a time)
– 1 Mb of physical memory address limitation
• 8-bit device-controlling chips
• 29,000 transistors
• 3-micron technology
electrical paths nowas small as .13 micron
Pentium 4 chip has42 million transistors
© J Wagner March 20, 2000
Moore’s Law example
DECPDP-11,mid 1970’s
DECLSI-11,
Early 1980’s
These 2 computers were functionally equivalent.