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History of Computers
Roderick Hames

Number฀of฀words฀฀ 1050
Computer฀science฀content฀฀ Low
Math฀content฀฀ Low
English฀language฀complexity฀฀ Low

Learning objectives
•฀ to฀acquire฀basic฀knowledge฀about฀computer฀history฀

Sub-areas covered
•฀ Computer฀history

Keywords
•฀ punched฀card฀-฀a฀card฀on฀which฀data฀can฀be฀recorded฀in฀the฀form฀of฀punched฀holes฀
•฀ binary฀code฀-฀code฀using฀a฀string฀of฀8฀binary฀digits฀to฀represent฀characters

Summary
A฀short฀article฀which฀describes฀the฀history฀of฀computers฀and฀their฀precursors.฀It฀briefly฀
mentions฀important฀events฀from฀1600฀up฀to฀the฀times฀when฀the฀first฀computer฀was฀
built.฀A฀nice฀text฀written฀in฀a฀simple฀language.฀It฀could฀be฀used฀as฀a฀lead-in฀to฀interesting฀
discussions฀about฀the฀future฀of฀computers฀or฀the฀pace฀of฀their฀evolution.

Krótki฀tekst฀opisujący฀historię฀komputerów฀wraz฀z฀tym,฀co฀można฀nazwać฀ich฀proto-
plastami.฀Pokrótce฀opisane฀są฀ważniejsze฀wydarzenia฀od฀1600฀roku฀aż฀do฀powstania฀
pierwszego฀ komputera.฀ Przyjemny฀ tekst,฀ napisany฀ nieskomplikowanym฀ językiem.฀
Może฀być฀wstępem฀do฀ciekawych฀dyskusji฀na฀przykład฀o฀przyszłości฀komputerów฀lub฀
tempie฀ich฀dalszego฀rozwoju.

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Pre-reading questions
1.฀ Why฀do฀so฀many฀people฀not฀know฀how฀the฀modern฀computer฀began?
2.฀ Why฀do฀you฀think฀the฀computer฀has฀changed฀more฀rapidly฀than฀anything฀else?
3.฀ How฀ do฀ you฀ think฀ W.W.II฀ might฀ have฀ been฀ different฀ if฀ the฀ ENIAC,฀ the฀ first฀ all฀฀
electrical฀computer,฀whose฀first฀job฀was฀to฀calculate฀the฀feasibility฀of฀a฀design฀for฀
the฀hydrogen฀bomb,฀had฀not฀been฀invented฀then?

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History of Computers

Early Start
Computers฀have฀been฀around฀for฀quite฀a฀few฀years.฀Some฀of฀your฀parents฀were฀probably฀฀ punched฀card
around฀in฀1951฀when฀the฀first฀computer฀was฀bought฀by฀a฀business฀firm.฀Computers฀฀ a฀card฀on฀which฀data฀฀
have฀ changed฀ so฀ rapidly฀ that฀ many฀ people฀ cannot฀ keep฀ up฀ with฀ the฀ changes.฀ can฀be฀recorded฀฀
One฀ newspaper฀ tried฀ to฀ describe฀ what฀ the฀ auto฀ industry฀ would฀ look฀ like฀ if฀ it฀ had฀฀ in฀the฀form฀฀
developed฀at฀a฀similar฀pace฀to฀changes฀in฀computer฀technology:฀ of฀punched฀holes฀

“Had฀the฀automobile฀developed฀at฀a฀pace฀equal฀to฀that฀of฀the฀computer฀during฀the฀
past฀twenty฀years,฀today฀a฀Rolls฀Royce฀would฀cost฀less฀than฀$3.00,฀get฀3฀million฀miles฀
to฀the฀gallon,฀deliver฀enough฀power฀to฀drive฀(the฀ship)฀the฀Queen฀Elizabeth฀II,฀and฀six฀
of฀them฀would฀fit฀on฀the฀head฀of฀a฀pin!”฀These฀changes฀have฀occurred฀so฀rapidly฀that฀
many฀people฀do฀not฀know฀how฀our฀modern฀computer฀got฀started.฀

The First Computing Machines “Computers”

฀Since฀ancient฀times,฀people฀have฀had฀ways฀of฀dealing฀with฀data฀and฀numbers.฀Early฀
people฀tied฀knots฀in฀rope฀and฀carved฀marks฀on฀clay฀tablets฀to฀keep฀track฀of฀livestock฀
and฀ trade.฀ Some฀ people฀ consider฀ the฀ 5000-year-old฀ ABACUS฀ -฀ a฀ frame฀ with฀ beads฀
strung฀on฀wires฀-฀to฀be฀the฀first฀true฀computing฀aid.฀

As฀the฀trade฀and฀tax฀system฀grew฀in฀complexity,฀people฀saw฀that฀faster,฀more฀reliable฀
and฀accurate฀tools฀were฀needed฀for฀doing฀math฀and฀keeping฀records.฀

In฀ the฀ mid-600’s,฀ Blaise฀ Pascal฀ and฀ his฀ father,฀ who฀ was฀ a฀ tax฀ officer฀ himself,฀ were฀
working฀on฀taxes฀for฀the฀French฀government฀in฀Paris.฀The฀two฀spent฀hours฀figuring฀
and฀refiguring฀taxes฀that฀each฀citizen฀owed.฀Young฀Blaise฀decided฀in฀1642฀to฀build฀an฀
adding฀and฀subtraction฀machine฀that฀could฀assist฀in฀such฀a฀tedious฀and฀time-consuming฀
process.฀The฀machine฀Blaise฀made฀had฀a฀set฀of฀eight฀gears฀that฀worked฀together฀in฀much฀
the฀same฀way฀as฀an฀odometer฀keeps฀track฀of฀a฀car’s฀mileage.฀His฀machine฀encountered฀
many฀problems.฀For฀one฀thing,฀it฀was฀always฀breaking฀down.฀Second,฀the฀machine฀was฀ 17
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slow฀and฀extremely฀costly.฀And฀third,฀people฀were฀afraid฀to฀use฀the฀machine,฀thinking฀
it฀might฀replace฀their฀jobs.฀Pascal฀later฀became฀famous฀for฀math฀and฀philosophy,฀but฀
he฀is฀still฀remembered฀for฀his฀role฀in฀computer฀technology.฀In฀his฀honor,฀there฀is฀a฀
computer฀language฀named฀Pascal.฀

The฀next฀big฀step฀for฀computers฀arrived฀in฀the฀1830s,฀when฀Charles฀Babbage฀decided฀
binary฀code to฀build฀a฀machine฀to฀help฀him฀complete฀and฀print฀mathematical฀tables.฀Babbage฀was฀
฀code฀using฀a฀string฀฀ a฀mathematician฀who฀taught฀at฀Cambridge฀University฀in฀England.฀He฀began฀planning฀
of฀8฀binary฀digits฀฀ his฀calculating฀machine,฀calling฀it฀the฀Analytical฀Engine.฀The฀idea฀for฀this฀machine฀was฀
to฀represent฀characters amazingly฀like฀the฀computer฀we฀know฀today.฀It฀was฀to฀read฀a฀program฀from฀punched฀
cards,฀figure฀and฀store฀the฀answers฀to฀different฀problems,฀and฀print฀the฀answer฀on฀
paper.฀Babbage฀died฀before฀he฀could฀complete฀the฀machine.฀However,฀because฀of฀his฀
remarkable฀ideas฀and฀work,฀Babbage฀is฀known฀as฀the฀Father฀of฀Computers.฀

The฀next฀huge฀step฀for฀computers฀came฀when฀Herman฀Hollerith฀entered฀a฀contest฀or-
ganised฀by฀the฀U.S.฀Census฀Bureau.฀The฀contest฀was฀to฀see฀who฀could฀build฀a฀machine฀
that฀would฀count฀and฀record฀information฀the฀fastest.฀Hollerith,฀a฀young฀man฀working฀
for฀the฀Bureau,฀built฀a฀machine฀called฀the฀Tabulating฀Machine฀that฀read฀and฀sorted฀
data฀ from฀ punched฀ cards.฀ The฀ holes฀ punched฀ in฀ the฀ cards฀ matched฀ each฀ person’s฀
answers฀to฀questions.฀For฀example,฀married,฀single,฀and฀divorced฀were฀answers฀on฀
the฀cards.฀The฀Tabulator฀read฀the฀punched฀cards฀as฀they฀passed฀over฀tiny฀brushes.฀
Each฀time฀a฀brush฀found฀a฀hole,฀it฀completed฀an฀electrical฀circuit.฀This฀caused฀special฀
counting฀dials฀to฀increase฀the฀data฀for฀that฀answer.฀

Thanks฀to฀Hollerith’s฀machine,฀instead฀of฀taking฀seven฀and฀a฀half฀years฀to฀count฀the฀
census฀information฀it฀only฀took฀three฀years,฀even฀with฀13฀million฀more฀people฀since฀
the฀ last฀ census.฀ Happy฀ with฀ his฀ success,฀ Hollerith฀ formed฀ the฀ Tabulating฀ Machine฀
Company฀in฀1896.฀The฀company฀was฀later฀sold฀in฀1911฀and฀in฀1912฀his฀company฀
became฀the฀International฀Business฀Machines฀Corporation,฀better฀known฀today฀as฀IBM.฀

The First Electric Powered Computer

What฀ is฀ considered฀ to฀ be฀ the฀ first฀ computer฀ was฀ made฀ in฀ 1944฀ by฀ Harvard฀ Professor฀
ENIAC฀ Howard฀Aiken.฀The฀Mark฀I฀computer฀was฀very฀much฀like฀the฀design฀of฀Charles฀Babbage’s฀
Electronic฀฀ Analytical฀Engine,฀having฀mainly฀mechanical฀parts฀but฀with฀some฀electronic฀parts.฀His฀
Numerical฀Integrator฀฀ machine฀was฀designed฀to฀be฀programmed฀to฀do฀many฀computing฀jobs.฀This฀all-purpose฀
and฀Computer machine฀is฀what฀we฀now฀know฀as฀the฀PC฀or฀personal฀computer.฀The฀Mark฀I฀was฀the฀
first฀computer฀financed฀by฀IBM฀and฀was฀about฀50฀feet฀long฀and฀8฀feet฀tall.฀It฀used฀
mechanical฀switches฀to฀open฀and฀close฀its฀electric฀circuits.฀It฀contained฀over฀500฀miles฀
of฀wire฀and฀750,000฀parts.฀

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The First All Electronic Computer

The฀first฀all฀electronic฀computer฀was฀the฀ENIAC฀(Electronic฀Numerical฀Integrator฀and฀ EDVAC
Computer).฀ENIAC฀was฀a฀general฀purpose฀digital฀computer฀built฀in฀1946฀by฀J.฀Presper฀ Electronic฀฀
Eckert฀and฀John฀Mauchly.฀The฀ENIAC฀contained฀over฀18,000฀vacuum฀tubes฀(used฀instead฀ Discrete฀Variable฀Computer
of฀the฀mechanical฀switches฀of฀the฀Mark฀I)฀and฀was฀1000฀times฀faster฀than฀the฀Mark฀I.฀
In฀twenty฀seconds,฀ENIAC฀could฀do฀a฀math฀problem฀that฀would฀have฀taken฀40฀hours฀
for฀one฀person฀to฀finish.฀The฀ENIAC฀was฀built฀at฀the฀time฀of฀World฀War฀II฀and฀as฀its฀
first฀job฀had฀to฀calculate฀the฀feasibility฀of฀a฀design฀for฀the฀hydrogen฀bomb.฀The฀ENIAC฀
was฀100฀feet฀long฀and฀10฀feet฀tall.฀

More Modern Computers

A฀ more฀ modern฀ type฀ of฀ computer฀ began฀ with฀ John฀ von฀ Neumann’s฀ development฀
of฀software฀written฀in฀binary฀code.฀It฀was฀von฀Neumann฀who฀began฀the฀practice฀of฀
storing฀data฀and฀instructions฀in฀binary฀code฀and฀initiated฀the฀use฀of฀memory฀to฀store฀
data,฀as฀well฀as฀programs.฀A฀computer฀called฀the฀EDVAC฀(Electronic฀Discrete฀Variable฀
Computer)฀was฀built฀using฀binary฀code฀in฀1950.฀Before฀the฀EDVAC,฀computers฀like฀the฀
ENIAC฀could฀do฀only฀one฀task;฀then฀they฀had฀to฀be฀rewired฀to฀perform฀a฀different฀task฀
or฀ program.฀ The฀ EDVAC’s฀ concept฀ of฀ storing฀ different฀ programs฀ on฀ punched฀ cards฀
instead฀of฀rewiring฀computers฀led฀to฀the฀computers฀that฀we฀know฀today.฀

While฀the฀modern฀computer฀is฀far฀better฀and฀faster฀than฀the฀EDVAC฀of฀its฀time,฀computers฀
of฀ today฀ would฀ not฀ have฀ been฀ possible฀ without฀ the฀ knowledge฀ and฀ work฀ of฀ many฀
great฀inventors฀and฀pioneers.

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