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Definition Computer - An electronic device that has the ability to store, retrieve, and process data and can be programmed with instructions that it remembers. © Prentice-Hall, Inc Gross Anatomy Hardware Equipment associated with the computer • Input devices, processor, output devices, storage Software Instructions that tell the hardware what to do Two categories of software: • System software • Application software History of Computers Modern computers result from 2 streams of evolution Mechanization of arithmetic calculating machines (hardware) Concept of stored programs process control (software) © Prentice-Hall, Inc A Brief History of the Computer First “computer”? The first actual calculating mechanism known to us is the abacus, which was invented about 2000 years ago Abacus: The art of calculating with beads Adapted © Prentice-Hall, From: http://www.maxmon.com/history.htm Inc A Brief History of the Computer Many references cite the French mathematician, physicist, and theologian Blaise Pascal as being the inventor of the first mechanical calculator in 1642, the Arithmetic Machine Liebniz calculator Adapted © Prentice-Hall, From: http://www.maxmon.com/history.htm Inc A Brief History of the Computer However, it now appears that the first mechanical calculator may have been conceived by someone else almost 150 years earlier than Pascal's machine. Can you guess who? Leonardo Da Vinci Adapted © Prentice-Hall, From: http://www.maxmon.com/history.htm Inc A Brief History of the Computer In the early 1800s, a French silk weaver called Joseph-Marie Jacquard invented a way of automatically controlling the warp and weft threads on a silk loom by recording patterns of holes in a string of cards Adapted © Prentice-Hall, From: http://www.maxmon.com/history.htm Inc A Brief History of the Computer The first device that might be considered to be a computer in the modern sense of the word was the Difference Engine to automatically calculate mathematical tables conceived in 1822 by the British mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage Adapted © Prentice-Hall, From: http://www.maxmon.com/history.htm Inc A Brief History of the Computer The Difference Engine was only partially completed when Babbage conceived the idea of another, more sophisticated machine called the Analytical Engine The Analytical Engine was intended to use loops of Jacquard's punched cards to control an automatic calculator, which could make decisions based on the results of previous computations Adapted © Prentice-Hall, From: http://www.maxmon.com/history.htm Inc A Brief History of the Computer Working with Babbage was Augusta Ada Lovelace, the daughter of the English poet Lord Byron. Ada, who was a splendid mathematician and one of the few people who fully understood Babbage's vision, created a program for the Analytical Engine Ada is now credited as being the first computer programmer and, in 1979, a modern programming language was named ADA in her honour Adapted © Prentice-Hall, From: http://www.maxmon.com/history.htm Inc A Brief History of the Computer In 1939, a German engineer, Konrad Zuse built the first programmable, generalpurpose digital computer. His computer was built from electric relays to automate engineering calculations “I was too lazy to calculate and so I invented the computer.” © Prentice-Hall, Inc A Brief History of the Computer John Atanasoff invented the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) —the first electronic digital computer. Built in 1939, this computer used vacuum tubes and was based on binary arithmetic. It was never a fully operational product. © Prentice-Hall, Inc A Brief History of the Computer In 1944, Howard Aiken completed the Mark I, the largest electromechanical calculator ever built. It was built with electromechanical relays and followed instructions punched in paper tape © Prentice-Hall, Inc A Brief History of the Computer In 1945, Mauchly and Eckert built the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). The ENIAC was built with 18,000 vacuum tubes that failed on an average of once every seven minutes After the war, they created the UNIVAC I - the first generalpurpose commercial computer © Prentice-Hall, Inc First-Generation Computers 1930s – 1940s Vacuum tubes used as switches Large computers Extremely slow by today’s standards Prone to frequent failure Includes the ABC, Mark I, ENIAC, UNIVAC, and others of similar design © Prentice-Hall, Inc Second-Generation Computers – mid-1960s Transistors used as switches Smaller than vacuum-tube-built computers As much as a thousand times faster than first-generation computers More reliable and less expensive 1950s © Prentice-Hall, Inc Third-Generation Computers Late 1960s Hundreds of transistors packed into a single integrated circuit on a silicon chip Dramatic reduction in size and cost Significant increases in reliability, speed, and efficiency Mass production techniques to manufacture chips inexpensively © Prentice-Hall, Inc Fourth-Generation Computers 1970s to present Complete computer on a chip Radical change in the appearance, capability and availability of computers © Prentice-Hall, Inc Some Links Computer History http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvKxJ3bQRKE&feature=related Charles Babbage and His Difference Engine http://www.youtube.com/user/ComputerHistory#p/u/69/KBuJqUfO4w ENIAC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGIteTE9glQ Computer History Museum Overview http://www.youtube.com/user/ComputerHistory#p/u/106/z6zeqdD5dI © Prentice-Hall, Inc