Computer Skills Lecture 1 Lecture Notes Computer Skills: History of the Computer COMPUTER Computer – an electronic machine that can store, organize, and find information, and control other machines. - “Com” (together) + “putare” (to think, to reckon) = “computer” - Was previously used to indicate a person who did calculations. à the first computers were people. § It was a job title, for those who performed the repetitive calculations required to compute things such as money, navigational tables, etc. What is a computer for? - The first computers were sorts of devices which helped in doing calculations. - They helped.... § Reduce working memory load. § Perform the tasks that were becoming more and more complex. § Store information in the long term. HISTORY OF COMPUTING à The first Computing machines and the mathematical advancements that bring us to today’s computers. 1. Abacus - It was thought to be developed in China, however there is evidence of more ancient abacus by the Babylonians, ancient Greeks, and Romans. § Allows grouping of numbers § It is still widely used. 2. The Antikythera machine - The first example of an analog computing machine Lecture Notes - Computer Skills Lecture 1 Used by the Greeks to predict astronomical phenomena such as eclipses, moon phases, sun and planetary positions. 3. The Astrolabe - Sophisticated handheld devices used for astronomical calculations. - Used for several centuries in Europe, prior to the development of the telescope in the 17th Century. 4. The Napier’s bones. - Developed by John Napier (1550-1617) § Napier invented logarithms à a technology which allowed for multiplications to be performed via addition. 5. Pascaline - Developed by Blaise Pascal in 1642 as a tool for his father, who was a tax collector. - It was an addition tool (it could only add) made of gears. - This didn’t sell since it was not accurate, and too expensive. 6. Poleni’s Calculator - A calculator developed by Giovanni Poleni (1683-1761), based on a pinwheel system. - The device could automatically perform multiplications. 7. The Babbage’s Analytical Engine - Developed by Charles Babbage (1791-1871) § Mathematician, engineer, philosopher and inventor § He originated the concept and designed the programmable computer. - A device that could calculate values of polynomial functions. - The engine was supposed to rely on punch-cards and include sequence control and loop features. § Punch-cards – a card organized in different columns, each containing positions for holes, and each position corresponding to a specific value. • Originally created to represent the ornamental motif to be reproduced on tissues. § Sequence control structure – the property of a program to contain and be able to implement a series of commands sequentially. § Loop – a sequence of instructions in a program which loops allowing the program to return to a given instruction. - Sadly, never completed. Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) - Created the first algorithm for the (theoretical) Babbage engine. Computer Skills Lecture 1 Lecture Notes Algorithm – a sequence of instructions or rules that tells a computer how to solve a problem. She earned her spot in history as the first computer programmer à she recognized the importance of looping leading her to create the first algorithm. § - George Boole – 185-1864 - English mathematician - Worked on binary logic (Boolean algebra) which constituted as an important step towards the development of modern computers. § Refers to a branch of mathematics where variables are logical values (0-1), and operators are logical operators (OR, AND, NOT). Herman Hollerith – 1860-1929 - Created a machine in 1889 which stored and retrieved information by using punchcards à this was the first type of read and write technology. The tool “read’ function relied on electrical circuits which were in close proximity of the card holes. § With this machine he won a prize from the U.S. census Bureau in 1890 - Built the company; “Tabulating Machine Company” which then became “International Business Machines” in 1924 à IBM § In 1944 built Mark 1 à The IBA Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) created for Harvard University The Colossus Mark 1 & 2 - Widely acknowledge as among the first programable electric computers and were used at Bletchley Park to decode German codes (1943-1944) - Coincidently this is where the term bug originated, when in Sept. 9th, 1945 a moth entered one of the relays of the Harvard Mark 2 jamming the computer. § Bug – an error or flaw either in the machine or the program WW2 and Computers Z1, Z2, Z3, and Z4 - In 1936-1940 engineer Konrad Erst Otto Zuse (1910-1995), which were digital (relaybased) programmable computers. Commented [u1]: Flashcards stop here Computer Skills Lecture 1 Lecture Notes Enigma - Computer developed by the Germans; Enigma was able to generate a constantly changing code that was impossible for the code breakers to decipher in a timely fashion. COLOSSUS - Developed by Alan Turning, it was a tool used to decipher German codes made by Enigma. - - The Turning Test A ‘game’ in which the objective is for the interrogator to determine which of the other two is a) the person, b) the machine. § There are three players: 1. A person, 2. A machine, 3. An interrogator. Turning believed that if the person could not tell the machine apart from the person after a reasonable amount of time, the machine was somewhat intelligent. § Computers are able to learn and master specific tasks, however, struggle to maintain a conversation as they lack the consciousness humans have to do so. CAPTCHA à Completely Automated Public Turning Test To Tell Computer and Humans - Apart A program that protects websites from bots by generating and grading tests that humans can pass but current computer programs cannot. John von Neumann (1903-1957) - Another important computer science figure at the time - Contributed to several discoveries in the fields of Physics and Mathematics - Contributed to the Manhattan Project during the war. ENIAC Computer à Electronic Numerical Integrator AND Computer - The first “general purpose” (programable to solve any problem) electric computer. Lecture Notes - Computer Skills Lecture 1 Used for Von Neumann’s project working on the hydrogen bomb. Von Neumann Architecture - Computers built on the von Neumann model divide the computer hardware into four subsystems: memory, arithmetic logic unit, control unit, and input/output. - States that the program must be stored in the memory. § This is different from the architecture of early computers, where the memory only stored the data. - The memory of modern computers hosts both a program and its corresponding data à data memory is stored as binary patterns. § Sequence of 0s and 1s Grace Murray Hopper (1906-1992) - Developed the first complier while working at the Remington Rand corporation of the UNIVAC 1 § Complier – a program that transforms a first computer language into a second one. - UNIVAC 1 à First commercial between 1951-1958, 47 UNIVAC 1 computers were delivered. IBM 701 Electronic Data Processing Machine - 1953 – IBM 701 EDPM Computer IBM enters the market with its first large scale electronic computer § 19 computers were delivered. COMPUTER COMPONENTS Integrated Circuit - 1958 – Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments & Robert Noyce at Fairchild semiconductor independently invest the first integrated circuits of “the chip”. § Jack Kilby received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the integrated circuit. - Integrated circuit – chip/microchip à a very small piece of the computer, containing extremely small electronic circuits and devices (e.g., transistors) - Transistors – a semiconductor often integrated in the chip – that allows the inputstorage-output of data in a computer. Lecture Notes Computer Skills Lecture 1 Moore Law - The law states that the number of transistors on the microchip will double every two years à Meaning that the chips performance will as well. - Computers increase in power and shrink in size; a new class of machines has emerged roughly every ten years. GUI: Graphical User Interface - User Interface (UI) is a space where the human-machine interaction occurs. - GUI is a graphical interface including buttons and icons allowing communication with the machine. - The development of advanced GUI has led to increased computers usability. Microsoft Corporation - Founded in 1975 in the U.S. by Bill Gates and Paul Allen - In many periods it has dominated the personal computer operating system market. - Developed the MS-DOS and then the Windows operating systems, which were spread all over the world. Apple - Founded in the 1976 in U.S. b Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne. - It is one of the biggest technology companies in the world. Lecture Notes - Computer Skills Lecture 1 Produced Mac and iPhones. SUMMARY - Computers respond to increasingly complex human needs. § E.g., complex calculations and storing large amount of data. Computers rely on fundamental discoveries in mathematics and physics (chips) Computers size reduction and GUIs make computers accessible worldwide.
