History Of Computer
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER
A computer is an electronic data
processing machine or device that performs processes, calculations and
operations based on instructions provided by a program. Computers are now used
vastly in every field of life. The advancement in computer caused advancement
in knowledge, science and technology. Today, computers are used in fields of
business, industry, education, banking, transportation, research, explorations,
media, entertainment, etc.
History of Computers
The computers which we see today are
modern shape of computers which have been evolved since centuries. The
evolution of computers is generally divided in following three eras.
(i) Mechanical Era (Dark Age)
Men have been trying to invent machines
that can solve mathematical problems. In mechanical era, human became
successful to make simple machines that could help performing simple arithmetic
operation, in other words computing. These machines were manually operated
since the electricity was not invented. Some of the important machines of this
era are:
(a)
Abacus (3000 B.C.) Abacus was
invented about 5000 years ago. It is also known as counting frame. Abacus is
still used to teach basic arithmetic operations to the students. Abacus is
considered as first computer prototype. Demonstrate the understanding about
the history of computers Ÿ Outline the various gener
ations of computers Ÿ
Classify the computers as per their size and technology used to date SLOs 1.1 2
(b)Napier's Bones (1612 A.D.) Scottish
mathematician John Napier developed Napier's Bones, in 1612.It is also called
Napier's Rods. It was a small machine that contained ten rods. The rods were
made up of bones, wood or metal. Napier's Bones was used for multiplication and
division.
(c) Slide Rule (1622 A.D.) English mathematician William Ought red
invented a Slide Rule. This was basically a pair of two moveable rules placed
side by side. They had a standardized set of markings called scales. These
scales were used for mathematical computations. Slide Rule was used to multiply
and divide numbers. The modern
slide rules are still used in some countries.
(d) Pascaline or Pascal's Calculator (1642
A.D.) French mathematician Blasé
Pascal invented a mechanical calculator which was called Pascaline. He
developed this machine to help his father who was a tax collector. Pascaline
can perform addition and subtraction by eight figures. User had to adjust
wheels in order to perform these calculations.
(e) Leibniz's Calculator (1694 A.D.) Leibniz's
Calculator was developed by the German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.
It was also called stepped reckoner. It was the first calculator that could
perform all four basic arithmetic operations; addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division.
(f)
Babbage's Difference and Analytical Engines (1822 and 1837 A.D.) Charles Babbage was an English mathematician and
mechanical engineer. He is known as Father of Computer because he is known as
Father of Computer because he developed the first complete computing machine.
His first invention was Difference Engine. It was an automatic mechanical
calculator. Difference Engine was a large machine, made of metal and was
powered by steam. The Difference Engine had storage (mechanical memory) that
could hold the data temporarily for processing and to store results. It was
used to allow a user to enter calculations and get printed results. The
Difference Engine worked on difference equations. Then, Charles Babbage
designed but could not build a very big machine in 1837. This was named
Analytical Engine. The proposed design included an ALU with basic programmatic
flow control. It was programmed using punched cards and contained integrated
memory. Historians consider it to be the first design concept of a
general-purpose computer because of its comprehensive design.
(ii) Electro-Mechanical Era (Middle Age) This era starts from the mid of 19 century. In
this era scientists became able to develop faster and more accurate computing
machines as they were powered by steam and electricity. One of such machines
was Tabulating Machine
(a)
Herman Hollerith's Tabulating Machine (1890 A.D.) It was invented by American inventor Herman
Hollerith in 1890.Hollerith's first tabulator was used for the U.S. 1890
Census. Because of Hollerith's tabulating machine census data took only six
months to compile, which was very fast as compared to previous U.S. census in 1880 which took 7 years to be completed.
Hollerith Tabulating Machine became very famous and used in many offices of
U.S. Government.
(iii) Electronic Era (Modern Age) The advancement in the vacuum or electron tube gave
birth to the electronic era. In this era the true computers were invented which
worked on the principle of input, store, process and output. Continuous
advancement in electronic engineering increased efficiency and speed of
computers considerably. The electronic
era may be categorized in generations on the basis of core technology used to
build computers.
(a) First Generation of Computers (1940 to1956) Based on
vacuum tubes, first generation computers were very large in size. This
generation computers used machine language (i.e. 1's and 0's).Magnetic drums
were used as primary internal storage medium and punched cards for input. In
this generation mainly batch processing operating system was used. Computers of
this generation were primarily used for scientific and research purposes.
Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC), Universal Automatic
Computer (UNIVAC) are examples of first generation computers.
(b)
Second Generation of Computers (1956 to 1963) Because of transistors computers became smaller, faster, cheaper and
more efficient. Assembly language and a high-level language FORTRAN were
introduced. Magnetic core was used as primary internal storage medium. Punched
Cards were used for input. Batch processing and Multiprogramming Operating
systems were used. These computers were mainly used for commercial productions,
scientific and engineering analysis and design. Examples are IBM 7094 and IBM
1401.
(c)
Third Generation of Computers (1964 to 1971) Use of ICs further decreased size of computers and increased the speed
and efficiency. Less expensive computers
were introduced. High level programming languages such as Pascal and COBOL were
used. Keyboard as input and monitor as output also eased the use of computer.
Time-sharing and Real-time Operating Systems were used. The use of computers
was extended to database management and automatic industrial control. IBM 360
and IBM 370 are the examples of this generation's computers.
(d) Fourth Generation of Computers (1971 to
Present) The invention of
microprocessors was revolutionary which caused the development of faster, less
expensive, smaller and more reliable computers. They used semi-conductor
memories RAM and ROM and magnetic storage became popular. More high-level
languages were introduced like C, C++, Java, etc. These computers are used in
almost every field of life, like space applications, business and art work, Microprocessors
Time sharing, real time and distributed operating system are used. This
generation also saw the development of Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs).
Examples are Apple Macintosh, IBM PC.
(e)
Fifth Generation of Computers (Present and Beyond) Fifth Generation computing devices are still being
developed. In this generation computers will be capable of self- learning,
reasoning and generalization. These computers or controlled machines like robot
will also be able to process human languages. The branches of AI include;
Machine Learning, Deep Learning. Natural Language , Processing, Robotics and
Expert Systems.
