The History of Computers

(or How weve come a long way in a

short time.)
What is a computer?
The modern
definition of a
computer is:

An electronic machine 286

286Computer
Computer
that accepts
information (called
data); processes it
according to specific
instructions, and
provides the results as Alienwares
Alienwares
new information 4GHz
4GHzALX
ALX
What a Computer Was
The term computer has been in
used since 1646.
It was originally defined as a
person who performs calculations.
Before 1940 machines that did
calculations were called:
Calculators
Tabulators
NOT computers
The modern definition started in
the 40s.
The Origins of Computers
The Abacus It ruled in the world of
Dates back to the calculations until the
ancient Orient 1500s and is still
Beads represent considered useful today.
different values
In used by the Greeks
and Romans in 500
B.C.E.
In this example the
top frame beads are
valued at 5 and the
bottom frame beads
represent 1
 The Pascaline
Invented in 1642 by the French
mathematician Blaise Pascal
Mechanical
Calculators

It used sets of gears to perform calculations

It could only perform addition
It could not perform: multiplication or division
Only 50 ever built
Built to help his father, a tax collector

Numbers are displayed

in these windows

Dials are used to

input values
Notes
 The Stepped Reckoner
Built in the late 1600s by Gottfried
Mechanical

Wilhelm von Leibniz, another famous

Calculators

mathematician
It was supposed to be able to add AND

subtract, multiply, divide and calculate
square roots. (There is some debate on
Numbersthis.)
are displayed
in these windows

Dials are used to

input values
Notes
An Aside
In 1801 Joseph Jacquard decides
to make a better mouse trap.
He creates a loom that can follow
pattern instructions using a
punch card.

The significance is:

Programming!
 The Difference Engine
Designed in 1822 by Charles Babbage,
Mechanical

an English Mathematics Professor.

Calculators

He felt that machines should be used for

and were best at doing repetitive tasks,
and that they could do this WITH OUT
mistakes.
The Difference Engine was supposed to be
able to calculate Differential equations

It was never built and it would be 10

years before he could build something
that worked
 The Analytical Engine
Designed by Charles Babbage:
Mechanical

The Analytical Engine was powered by STEAM!

Calculators

It used punch cards to enter instructions

It had MEMORY!
It could store up to 1,000 numbers 50 decimals long

It could make DECISIONS!

It could provide OUTPUT!

He could not have done this with out the

help of Ada Lovelace, considered by many to
be the FIRST programmer.

Notes
Mechanical
Calculators
The Analytical Engine

Numbers are
displayed on
these dials
 The Electronic Tabulation
Machine
Built by Herman Hollerith for the 1890
U.S. census
Calculators
Electronic

Used punch card idea of Jacquard to great

success
The 1890 U.S. census data took only 6
months to compile.
The 1880 census took 10 years to compile!

Notes
The Modern Computer
5 generations long and still
growing
Take the Money and
Run.
In the 1969 movie spoofing prison
movies Woody Allens character,
Virgil Starkwell is asked if he has
ever used a high speed digital
computer. He replies:
Yes, my aunt has one at home.

In 1969, that was hilarious, 30+

years later, its very true.
This joke was stolen from Dr. Cecil E. Greek
of the FSU School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
The 5 Generations of
Computers
1st Gen => 1940-1956: Vacuum Tubes

2nd Gen => 1956 1963: Transistors

3rd Gen => 1964 1971: Integrated

Circuits

4th Gen => 1971 Present:

Microprocessors

5th Gen => Present & Beyond: AI

1st Generati 1st Generation: Vacuum
Tubes
Very expensive
1940 - 1956

Very big
Very hot
Used a lot of electricity
Broke down a lot
But boywere they cool at the
time
1st Generati
The Mark I
Built in the 1930s by a joint team
1940 - 1956

from IBM and Harvard University

Project leader: Howard Aiken
It is not considered to be a real
computer
Length: 51 feet (15.5 meters)
Weight: 5 tons

Note
1st Generati
The ENIAC
Built: 1943
1940 - 1956

Project Leaders: John Mauchly &

J. Presper Eckert
Electronic Numerical Integration
and Calculator
It was considered to be a
computer

Note
1st Generati
The ENIAC
Specs:
1940 - 1956

18,000 vacuum tubes

70,000 resistors
10,000 capacitors
1,500 relays
6,000 manual switches
5 million soldered joints
1800 sq. Feet (167 sq. meters.)
30 tons
Used 160 kilowatts of electricity
1,000 times faster than the Mark I
Note
Important Historical Point
John von Neumann and the CPU

von Neumann, Mauchly & Eckert

build the EDVAC & the EDSAC
EDVAC: Electronic Discrete Variable
Automatic Computer

EDSAC: Electronic Delay Storage

Automatic Computer
2nd Generati
The Transistor
Cheaper than vacuum tubes
1956 - 1963

One transistor could replace

many tubes. 33different
differenttransistors
transistors
They made showing
showinghowhowthey
they
kept
keptgetting
gettingsmaller
smaller
computers and
andsmaller
smaller
smaller and
cheaper
First appeared
in a computer
in 1956
Size vs. time
2nd Generati
Computers Take Off
At this point in time (late 50s),
computers explode
1956 - 1963

Mainframes are common

Basically, things just keep

getting smaller and faster
2nd Generati First Non-binary
Languages
COBOL & FORTRAN were
developed to replace punch cards
1956 - 1963

Programmers became a common

term

Programs could be written using

words, sentences and
mathematical formula (sort of)
Another Aside Computer
Languages
High level programming languages are
developed:
FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslator)
COBOL (Common Business Oriented
Language)

LLL Low Level HLL High Level

Languages Languages
Based on 0s and Based on English
1s words
3rd Generatio Integrated Circuits,
Semiconductors and Silicon
Discs
Starts in the late
60s
1964 - 1971

Transistors are
miniaturized and
built onto silicon
chips called
semiconductors
Circuit paths

This
Thischip
chiphas
has~14,000
~14,000
transistors
transistorson
onitit
3rd Generatio Integrated Circuits,
Semiconductors and Silicon
Discs
A close up of a circuit
board.
1964 - 1971

This is a floppy drive

controller
3rd Generatio OS & Mass Production
Users could interact with 3rd Generation
computers using keyboards and monitors.
1964 - 1971

OSs allowed multiple

programs to run at the
same time with a
central program
controlling memory
allocations

Computers could be mass produced at

affordable rates. Your Aunt could finally
have a high speed digital computer at her
home!
4th Generatio Birth of the Personal Computer
1
Characterized by single silicon chips
1971 - Present

containing 1000s of integrated circuits

What used to fill an entire room now fit

in the palm of your hand

Intel 4004 chip is developed in 1971

The CPU, memory and all input/output
controls are located on the same chip
4th Generatio Birth of the Personal Computer
2
1981 IBM sells its first computer
1971 - Present

designed for the home user

1984 Apple introduces the Macintosh

Microprocessors begin to move away

from the computer into other areas of
everyday products

My Grandfather buys his first desktop

computer. It draws great circles
4th Generatio Birth of the Personal Computer
3
Computers start to be networked
1971 - Present

GUIs are developed

Mice become something other than a

household pest

Handheld computer devices are no

longer limited only to Star Trek

Note
5th Generatio Tomorrow
Present and Beyond

Still in development, computer

engineers are working toward the
developing a functional AI.
Voice activated and controlled
computers
Parallel processing
Quantum computing
Natural language processing and
response by computers

Note
Summary
How we HAVE come a long way in a short
time
It took approximately 2000 years
before a significant step forward in
computational technology occurred

It took 248 years to go from a

manual calculating machine
(Pascals Pascaline, 1642) to an
electronic calculating machine
(Holleriths Tabulating Machine,
1890)
Summary
How we HAVE come a long way in a short
time
It only took 50 years to advance
to the first real computer

It took approximately 20 years

for the integrated circuit to be
developed

And in the last 30 years weve

connected the world through
computer technology
The End
Sources
No research is possible without
valuable resources. This
presentation was built using the
following:
www.criminology.fsu.edu/book/chapter1.html
Parsons & Oja, Computer Concepts 5th Ed., Course
Technology, Thompson Learning Center
Brookshear, Computer Science, an overview 7th Ed.,
Addison Wesley Pub.
Webopedia, www.webopedia.com