Chapter 1 - Brief History of a Computer
Howard Hathaway Aiken (1900 - 1973)
- A pioneer in computing - Original conceptual designer behind IBM's Harvard Mark I computer
IBM AT 1984
- Based on Intel's 80286 microprocessor - Operated at 6 Mhz - 20MB Hard Drive - Used MS-DOS 3.0
Slide Rule, 1622
- Based on John Napier's ideas about logarithms - A computing device
Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC)
- Built b/w 1939-1942 at Iowa State University - Used binary number system Vacuum tubes - Invented by Prof. John Atanasoff and graduate student Clifford Berry.
Tabulating Machine, 1884
- Built by Dr. Herman Hollerith - Used punched cards
Dr. Herman Hollerith (1860 - 1929)
- Built the first processing machine (tabulator) in order to accomodate the 1890 census
Early Computing Devices
- Calculator - Abacus - Slide Rule
Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
- Considered by some to be a "FATHER OF THE COMPUTER" - Designed the ANALYTICAL ENGINE
Augusta Ada King Byron (1815 - 1952)
- Countess of Lovelace of Byron - She is believed by some to have published the first algorithm - One of the first computer programmers
Analytical Engine (1833)
- Designed by Charles Babbage - First design for a general-purpose computer - Essentially the same design as today
Joseph Marie Charles Jacquard (1752 - 1834)
- Developed Jacquard Loom
Altair (1975)
- First personal computer - Based on 8080 microprocessor - Introduced by MITS
IBM PS/2 1988
- IBM abandoned its own standard - Microchannel replaces the ISA bus - Introduced the VGA graphics standard - New OS called OS/2 is DOS compatible, allows multitasking
From 1981 - 1987
- IBM dominated the PC business
From 1987 - Present
- IBM's influence gradually waned - Software standards set, largely, by Microsoft - Hardware standards set, largely, by Intel
IBM XT
- Introduced in 1983
Jean-Maurice-Emile Baudot (1845 - 1903)
- Inventor of the first means of digital communication Baudot code - Was one of the pioneers of telecommunications. - Invented a multiplexed printing telegraph system
Abacus
- Performs mathematical equations - Invented by Babylonians in 2400 BC - First used in China in 500 BC
Rear Grace Hopper
- Rear Admiral "Amazing Grace" Hopper - One of the first programmers that created the FIRST COMPILER - Envisioned machine-independent programming languages; COBOL
Jacquard Loom (1801)
- Used in the development of an early version of digital compiler
IBM PC 1981
- Used the Intel 8088 microprocessor - Operated at 4.77 Mhz - No Hard Drive - Used MS-DOS 1.0 - Introduced the 8-bit ISA bus
Harvard Mark I
An early computer prototype.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716)
One of the great universalists, he independently discovered the foundations of calculus. He was also a gifted linguist (famed for his translations of Sanskrit), philosopher, lawyer and diplomat.
COBOL
Stands for Common Business Oriented-Language. Uses the binary system of 0's and 1's. Handles huge amounts of data.
ENIAC (1946)
Stands for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer
ISA
Stands for Industry Standard Architecture
MITS
Stands for Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems
MS-DOS
Stands for Microsoft Disk Operating System
OS
Stands for Operating System
VGA
Stands for Video Graphic Array
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
French mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions in both fields. He is best known for his work with hydrostatic forces and fluids and invented the hydraulic press and the syringe (the SI unit of pressure is named after him: Pascal).
Four Types of Computing
Input - Process - Output - Source
William Oughtred (1574 - 1660)
Invented the slide rule
Bug
To describe computer problem
IBM
stands for International Business Machines, was originally created in 1911 as the Computing Tabulating Recording Company (CTR) through a merger of the Tabulating Machine Company (Hollerith's), the International Time Recording Company and the Computing Scale Company.
