History of Computing

• The abacus is a calculating machine used for centuries

• Pascal invented an adding machine in 1673 (for taxes!)

Algorithm

In the 12th century, a Tashkent cleric namedMuhammad ibn Musa Al'Khowarizmi, wrote about the concept of a writtenprocess to be followed in order toachieve a goal.

Jacquard’s Loom

• In 1801 Joseph-Marie Jacquard invented an automatic loom using punched cards for the control of the patterns in the fabrics

Riots ensued!

Babbage and Byron

• In 1822, Charles Babbage designed the “Difference Engine,” powered by steam and using gears.

• A decade later, Babbage and Augusta Ada Byron worked on the “Analytical Engine.”

• A Difference Engine was finally built in 1991:

Herman Hollerith• The 1880 census took 7 years to tabulate• In 1890, the census was tabulated in 2 years

due to Hollerith’s invention of a machine with– Punched cards encoding census data– A card puncher, reader,and sorter

• Hollerith founded the predecessor company to IBM

Vannevar Bush

• Vannevar Bush at MIT built a large-scale differential analyzer in the 1920s

• The machine had the capabilities of integration and differentiation.

The First Computer?

• In the 1930s, John Vincent Atanasoff developed a machine for the solution of sets of linear equations in Physics.

• It had an electronic arithmetic unit and a regenerative, cyclic memory.

• The Patent Office eventually awarded the patent for the first computer to Atanasoff, although most had never heard of him.

Atanasoff’s “Computer”

Alan Turing

• In the 1930’s, Alan Turing developed the idea of a "Universal Machine" capable of executing any describable algorithm.

• Turing introduced the concept of "symbol processing,” moving beyond arithmetic problems.

ENIAC 1946

• Developed to calculate trajectories in WWII (too late)

• Built across the street at Penn.

• First machine using the Stored Program Concept

• Programmed by rewiring

UNIVAC 1951

• The developers of ENIAC left Penn. (in a patent dispute) to build a computer for the U.S. Census Bureau

• In 1951, after a financial buyout, the computer was delivered

• In 1952, UNIVAC predicted the winner of the U.S. presidential election, but the television network was afraid to broadcast it

Admiral Grace Hopper

• Worked on UNIVAC• Invented the “compiler”• Developed the idea of

“reusable software”• Led development of the

first high-level programming language: COBOL

• Named computer problems “bugs” and called fixing them “debugging”

The first “bug”.Really!

First Generation Computers

• 1940’s-1950’s

• Based on vacuum tubes

• Used only machine language

• Required experts to program

1947 - The Transistor

High Level Languages and Ideas

• In 1954, John Backus developed FORTRAN, a high-level language for expressing formulas (in 1957, IBM packaged it for sale)

• In 1957, John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky convened the first conference on the concept of “Artificial Intelligence” (AI)

• In 1958, John McCarthy developed LISP, a language for AI

Second Generation Computers

• 1960’s

• From vacuum tubes to transistors

• High-level languages

• More widespread business computing

Time Sharing

• Fernando Corbató, MIT, produced CTSS (Compatible Time Sharing System) for IBM in 1961

• Batch processing versus time sharing

Integrated Circuits• Invented in 1958 by Jack St. Clair Kirby

and Robert Noyce.

• The 1960’s and 1970’s saw increasing numbers of transistors placed on ICs and used to make computers

Third Generation Computers

• 1960’s-1970’s

• Integrated circuits

• Timesharing

Networks

• In the early 1970’s, Robert Metcalfe worked on– Wide area networks (WANS)– ARPAnet– Internet– Internet protocols (TCP/IP)– Local area networks (LANS)

Personal Computers• In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak

produced the Apple II– Assembled and ready to go– Complete with keyboard and monitor

• In 1981, the IBM PC is introduced

Douglas Engelbart• In 1959 Douglas Engelbart launched the SRI

Augmentation Research Center– hypertext system

– outline processor

– video conferencing

– mouse

– two-dimensional editing

– concept of windows

– uniform command syntax

– mixed text-graphic files– structured document files– idea processing

Computers for Real People

• 1978 – BASIC

• 1979 – VisiCalc

• 1981 – Alto– Xerox PARC project– Graphical user interface– Mouse

• 1984 - Macintosh

Fourth Generation Computers

• 1970’s-1990’s?

• VLSI and microprocessors

• Networks

• Personal computing

• GUIs

• Internet

Fifth Generation

• AI?

• Distributed and ubiquitous computing?

• Wearable computing?

Check Out

• http://www.computer.org/history/