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The History of Computer

The document traces the history of computers from ancient counting tools to modern electronic devices. It begins with the abacus, considered the first computer, and discusses early mechanical calculators like the Pascaline. The development of punched cards allowed data to be stored and manipulated mechanically. The Mark 1 was one of the first programmable computers, using switches and vacuum tubes. The ABC used digital switching and logic circuits. A major advancement was the ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer, though it filled rooms due to its large vacuum tubes. Integrated circuits in the 1960s led to computers shrinking dramatically in size.

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Michka Sweetness
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58 views20 pages

The History of Computer

The document traces the history of computers from ancient counting tools to modern electronic devices. It begins with the abacus, considered the first computer, and discusses early mechanical calculators like the Pascaline. The development of punched cards allowed data to be stored and manipulated mechanically. The Mark 1 was one of the first programmable computers, using switches and vacuum tubes. The ABC used digital switching and logic circuits. A major advancement was the ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer, though it filled rooms due to its large vacuum tubes. Integrated circuits in the 1960s led to computers shrinking dramatically in size.

Uploaded by

Michka Sweetness
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The History of Computer

From the Past, Future, Beyond.

The Origin

The first computer to be created was the abacus. The abacus, also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool used primarily for performing arithmetic operations. The abacus is a simple device that uses beads - to represent digits and wires to hold places.

Picture of the Abacus

Pascaline

Blaise Paschal, a French Mathematician and Philosopher invented the first electronic calculator. This was called the Pascaline. It could add and subtract directly and multiply and divide by repetition.

Pascaline

The Pascaline was developed in the 1640s and ended up to be a financial failure, for Workers feared losing their jobs and Paschal was the only person who could fix it.

A programme language, Paschal, was named in honor of Blaise Paschal for his contribution.

Picture of the Pascaline

Electromechanical Punch Card


The punched card predates computers considerably. Dr. Herman Hollerith is widely regarded as the father of modern automatic computation. He chose the punched card as the basis for storing and processing information and he built the first punched-card tabulating and sorting machines as well as the first key punch, and he founded the company that was to become IBM.

Picture of Electromechanical Punch Card

Mark 1

In the 1930s American mathematician Howard Aiken developed the Mark 1 calculating machine, which was built by International Business Machines (IBM). In later machines Aiken used vacuums tubes and solid-state transistors (tiny electrical switch) to manipulate the binary numbers.

Aiken introduced computers in universities by establishing the first Computer Science program at Harvard University.

Picture of Mark 1

Atanasoff-Berry Computer

Between 1937 and 1939 a prototype computing device was built. This was created by physicist John V. Atanasoff and his assistant Clifford Berry. It was called the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC).

Atanasoff-Berry Computer

This first computer used modern digital switching techniques and vacuum tube switches along with introducing the concepts of logic circuits and binary arithmetic.

Picture of ABC

ENIAC

ENIAC stands for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer. This was the first electronic digital computer. The ENIAC was completed in 1945 and is regarded as the first successful digital computer. It weighed more than 60,000 lbs and contained more than 18,000 vacuum tubes.

Many of the ENIAC tasks were for military purposes ( such as calculating ballistics firing tables and designing atomic weapons).

Picture of the ENIAC

1960s

In the 1960s integrated components, became miniaturized, enabling more components to be designed into a single computer circuit.

Computer Circuit

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