History of Computer

Abacus
>> a Latin word that has its origins in the Greek words abax or abakon (meaning "table" or "tablet")
>> the first computing device
>> developed and originated form China @ 12 century A.D
>> The abacus is often wrongly attributed to China. In fact, the oldest surviving abacus was used in 300 B.C. by the Babylonians.

Napier's rods or bones
>> invented by John Napier in the year 1617 a Scottish Mathematician.
>> The bones are an aid for multiplication and division. Even squares roots and powers could be done.
>> made of bones or ivory

Oughtred’s Slide Rule
>> invented by William Oughtred an English Mathematician.
>> consist of two movable parts/rulers place side by side by sliding the rulers 1 can quickly multiply & divide.
>> appeared in various forms in Europe during 17 century.

Leibniz Calculator
>> invented by Gottfried Leibniz a 17 century scientist.
>> completed his calculator in 1694.
>> additional operation was multiplication & division, as well as extract root.

Difference Engine
>> By 1822 the English mathematician Charles Babbage
was proposing a steam driven calculating machine
>> the size of a room,
>> Difference Engine
>> This machine would be able to compute tables of numbers, such as logarithm tables

Analytic Engine
>> Babbage was not deterred, and by then was on to his next brainstorm, which he called the Analytic Engine. This device, large as a house and powered by 6 steam engines, would be more general purpose in nature because it would be programmable
>> the fathers of the modern computer

Holerith’s Punch Card
>> invented by Herman Holerith a statistician of the Bureau of Census
to help process the result of the 1890 census
>> 3”x5” punched card to record the data
>> The data to be processed were coded as a hole & past between metal pins.

MARK 1
>> Howard Aiken
>> Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator
>> 50 ft. long / 8 ft. High
>> 700,000 moving parts

ENIAC(Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator)
>> 1945
>> Built by Presper Eckert Jr. and John V. Mauchly
>> Calculations for Hydrogen Bomb
>> 18,000 vacuum tubes
>> 5,000 addition/sec

EDVAC(Electronic Discrete Variable Auto- Computer )
>> Jon Von Neumann
>> Stored Program
>> Permanent set of instruction

EDSAC(Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer )
>> more accurate than EDVAC

UNIVAC(Universal Automatic Computer )
>> 1952
>> the first digital computer handling both numeric and alphabet
>> the first commercially successful computer by Eckert and Mauchly

Computer Generations
The First Generation, 1951-1958
The Second Generation, 1959-1964
The Third Generation, 1965-1870
The Fourth Generation, 1970-Present
The Fifth Generation, Future

Characteristics of 1st Generation
>> Thousands of vacuum tubes
>> used a lot of electricity
>> great deal of heat generated
>> required extensive air conditioning
>> subject to frequent burnout
>> bulky; occupied a lot of floor space
>> slow

Characteristics of 2nd Generation
>> uses transistors (much smaller than vacuum tube)
>> consumed less energy
>> faster and more reliable
>> less bulky; less expensive

Characteristic of 5th Generation
>> powerful “intelligent” computers
>> trademark: AI
>> able to reason and draw inferences
>> able to learn from mistakes