History of Computers

Early Calculating Devices

History of Computing

Abacus

The abacus was an early aid for mathematical computations. Its only value is that it aids
the memory of the human performing the calculation. The abacus is often wrongly attributed to
China. In fact, the oldest surviving abacus was used in 300 B.C. by the Babylonians. The abacus is
still in use today, principally in the far east. A modern abacus consists of rings that slide over rods,
but the older one pictured below dates from the time when pebbles were used for counting (the word
"calculus" comes from the Latin word for pebble).

Napier’s Bones

In 1617 an eccentric (some say mad) Scotsman named John Napier invented logarithms,
which are a technology that allows multiplication to be performed via addition. The magic ingredient is
the logarithm of each operand, which was originally obtained from a printed table. But Napier also
invented an alternative to tables, where the logarithm values were carved on ivory sticks which are now
called Napier's Bones.

Slide Rule

Napier's invention led directly to the slide rule, first built in England
in 1632 and still in use in the 1960's by the NASA engineers of the Mercury,
Gemini, and Apollo programs which landed men on the moon.

Pascaline

In 1642 Blaise Pascal, at age 19, invented the Pascaline as an aid for his father who was a tax
collector. Pascal built 50 of this gear-driven one-function calculator (it could only add) but couldn't sell many
because of their exorbitant cost and because they really weren't that accurate (at that time it was not
possible to fabricate gears with the required precision).

Jacquard's Loom

Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1800 was the first to successfully used punch cards both for storing information and for controlling the machine.
He called it Jacquard’s Loom. It became a great commercial success in 1801 and became a milestone in the
development of the textile industry and data processing.

A close-up of a Jacquard card

By selecting particular cards for
Jacquard’s Loom you define the Jacquard Loom showing the
wooden pattern threads and the punched cards

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Charles P. Babbage – Difference Engine and Analytical Engine

1812: Charles P. Babbage, the "father of the computer", discovered that many long calculations involved many similar, repeated operations.
Therefore, he designed a machine, the “difference engine” which would be steam-powered, fully automatic and commanded by a fixed instruction
program. In 1833, Babbage quit working on this machine to concentrate on the analytical engine.

First Female Computer Programmer

1840s: The assistant of Charles Babbage who helped him in the machine design of his analytic engine was the
daughter of the English poet Lord Byron and the Countess of Lovelace, Lady Augusta Ada King. Her
understanding of the machine enabled her to create instruction routines that could fed into the computer. This
made her the first female programmer.

Boolean Logic

1850s: George Boole developed Boolean logic which would later be used in the design of computer circuitry.

Hollerith Desk

Hollerith's invention, known as the Hollerith desk, consisted of a card reader which sensed the holes in the
cards, a gear driven mechanism which could count (using Pascal's mechanism which we still see in car
odometers), and a large wall of dial indicators (a car speedometer is a dial indicator) to display the results of the
count.

Vacuum Tube

1906: The vacuum tube is invented by American physicist Lee De Forest.

Atanasoff-Berry-Computer (ABC)

1939: Dr. John V. Atanasoff and his assistant Clifford Berry build the first electronic digital computer. Their machine, the Atanasoff-Berry-Computer
(ABC) provided the foundation for the advances in electronic digital computers.

Z3

1941, Konrad Zuse (recently deceased in January of 1996), from Germany, introduced the first programmable computer designed to solve complex
engineering equations. This machine, called the Z3, was also the first to work on the binary system instead of the decimal system.

Turing Machine

1943: British mathematician Alan Turing developed a hypothetical device, the Turing machine which would be designed to perform logical operation
and could read and write. It would presage programmable computers. He also used vacuum technology to build British Colossus, a machine used to
counteract the German code scrambling device, Enigma.

Mark I

1944: Howard Aiken, in collaboration with engineers from IBM, constructed a large automatic digital sequence-controlled computer called the
Harvard Mark I. This computer could handle all four arithmetic operations, and had special built-in programs for logarithms and trigonometric
functions.

ENIAC (Electrical Numerical Integrator and Calculator)

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1947: The giant ENIAC (Electrical Numerical Integrator and Calculator) machine was developed by John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, Jr. at
the University of Pennsylvania. It used 18, 000 vacuums, punch-card input, weighed thirty tons and occupied a thirty-by-fifty-foot space. It wasn't
programmable but was productive from 1946 to 1955 and was used to compute artillery firing tables. That same year, the transistor was invented by
William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain of Bell Labs. It would rid computers of vacuum tubes and radios.

EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer)

1949: Maurice V. Wilkes built the EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer), the first stored-program computer. EDVAC (Electronic
Discrete Variable Automatic Computer), the second stored-program computer was built by Mauchly, Eckert, and von Neumann. An Wang developed
magnetic-core memory which Jay Forrester would reorganize to be more efficient.

ACE

1950: Turing built the ACE, considered by some to be the first programmable digital computer.

First Generation: The Vacuum Age (1951-1957)

During the first generation, computers were built with vacuum tubes – electronic tubes that were made of glass
and were about the size of the light bulbs.

Dr. John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert Jr.

introduce the first commercially available electronic digital
1951 computer – the UNIVAC – built with vacuum tubes. This
computer was based on their earlier ENIAC.

Development team led Dr. Grace Hopper, former US

Navy programmer, introduces the A6 Compiler – the first
1952
example of software that converts high level language
symbols into instructions that a computer can execute.
IBM adds computers to its business equipment
1951-1953
products and sells over 1000 IBM 650 systems.
Introduction of first high-level programming language
1957
– FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslator)

Second Generation: The Transistor Age (1958-1963)

This generation began with the first computers built with transistors – small devices that transfer electronic
signals across a resistor. Because transistors are much smaller, use less power, and create less heat than vacuum tubes,
the new computers were faster, smaller, and more reliable than the first generation machines.

Introduction of computers built with transistors – a

1958
1947 Bell Laboratories invention.
Introduction of the removable pack, providing users
with fast access to stored data.
General Electric Corporation introduces ERMA
1959
(Electronic Recording Machine Accounting) – the first
technology that can read special characters, such as digitized
information.
1960 Introduction of first business application programming
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language – COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) –

based on English-like phrases.
Introduction of the first computer industry standard
character set – ASCII (American Standard Code for
1963
Information Interchange) that enables computers to
exchange information.
Third Generation: The Integrated Circuit Age (1964-1969)
In 1964, computer manufacturers began replacing transistors with integrated circuits. An integrated circuits (IC)
is a complete electronic circuit on a small chip made of silicon (one of the most abundant elements in the earth’s crust).
These computers were more reliable and compact that computers made with transistors, and they cost less
manufacturers,

Introduction of computer built with an integrated

circuit (IC), which incorporates multiple transistors and
electronic circuits on single silicon chip.
1964
IBM introduces its System/360 line of compatible
computers, which can all use the same programs and
peripherals.
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) introduces the
1965 first minicomputer
Introduction of the BASIC programming language.
Introduction of ARPANET and the beginning of
Internet.
1969
IBM announces its decision to offer unbundled
software, priced and sold separately from the hardware.

Fourth Generation: The Microprocessor Age (1970--1990)

Many advances were made during this generation, the most significant being the microprocessor – a specialized
chip developed for computer memory and logic. Use of a single chip to create a smaller “personal” computer (as well as
digital watches, pocket calculators, copy machines, and so on) revolutionized the computer industry.

Introduction of computers built with chips that used

1970
LSI (large-scale integration)
Dr. Ted Hoff of Intel Corporation develops a
1971 microprogrammable computer chip – the Intel 4004
microprocessor.
First local area network (LAN) – Ethernet – developed
at Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center)
1975
The MITS, Inc., Altair becomes the first commercially
successful microcomputer, selling for less that $400 a kit.
Apple Computer, Inc., founded by Steve Wozniak and
1977 Steve Jobs, and Apple I introduced as an easy-to-use
“hobbyist” computer.
Introduction of the first public information services –
1979
Compuserve and the Source.

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IBM asks Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, to develop an

1980 operating system – MS-DOS – for the soon-to-be released
IBM personal computer.
Introduction of the IBM PC, which contains an Intel
1981 microprocessor chip and Microsoft’ MS-DOS operating
system.
Apple introduces the Macintosh Computer, with
1984
unique easy-to-use graphical interface.
Microsoft introduces their Windows graphical user
1985
interface.
Introduction of Intel 486 – the first 1,000,000
1989
transistor microprocessor.
Microsoft releases Windows 3.0, with an enhanced
1990 graphical user interface and the ability to run multiple
applications.

Fifth Generation: The Age of connectivity (1991 and beyond)

Our current generation has been referred to as the “Connected Generation” because of the industry’s massive
effort to increase the connectivity of computers. The rapidly expanding Internet, World Wide Web, and intranets have
created an information superhighway that has enabled both computer professionals and home computer users to
communicate with others across the globe.

Release of Word Wide Web standards that describe

the framework of linking documents on different
computers.
1991
Linus Torvalds, a graduate student at the University
of Helsinki, develops a version of UNIX called the Linux
operating system.
Apple introduces the Newton MessagePad – a
1992 personal digital assistant (PDA) that incorporates a pen
interface and wireless communications.
Introduction of computer systems built with Intel’s
Pentium microprocessor.
1993 Introduction of the Mosaic graphical Web browser,
which led to the organization of Netscape Communications
Corporation
Intel begins shipping the Pentium Pro
microprocessor.
1995
Intel begins shipping the Pentium Pro
microprocessor.
More than 500 million PCs sold and more than 250
1996
million PCs in use worldwide.
The number of Internet and World Wide Web users
1997
estimated at 50 million.
Microsoft releases Office 98 integrated with Internet
1998
Explorer 4.0 – antitrust legislation intensifies.

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Microsoft releases Office 2000 featuring extensive

1999 Web integration and document collaboration – soon
followed by Windows 2000.
A private Internet – Internet2 – expected to be completed
with higher speed, limited access, and tighter security is in
the works. Expected to include advanced virtual reality
interfaces called nanomanipulators.

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