Computer Revolution - Old Dominion University



Computer Revolution

Module 1 – Section 4

1

Computer Revolution

Section 4

Early Calculating Machines

2

Early Calculating Machines

• Abacus

• Slide rule

• Mechanical calculator

The first computing device could have been as simple as a set of stones used to represent

bushels of wheat or herds of animals. Figuring the total number of animals in two combined

herds or trading cattle for wheat could be represented with stones. When people followed a

standard set of procedures to perform calculations with these stones, they created a digital

counting device, the predecessor of a computer.

The abacus illustrates how these ancient computers worked. This computing device could be

seen during a stroll through the marketplace of ancient Beijing, and it is still used today. An

abacus has a wooden frame holding wires on which beads are strung. To show a number, you

pull down the beads so that each rod represents a digit. For example, you use four rods to

represent the number 3,741. To solve a math problem, you simply follow a set of instructions

telling you when and where to move the beads. This eventually gave way to paper and pencil.

Some of us can probably remember another calculating machine called the slide rule. I was

able to find a great website that actually demonstrates how one can be used to perform

calculations - interactively!

We will skip on quickly to the mechanical calculator. The earlier forms of the calculator made

use of clockwork gears and levers. Blaise Pascal, who was only nineteen years old at the time,

invented the first known automatic calculating machine in France in 1642. To add and subtract,

the machine, the Pascaline, rotated wheels to register values and used a lever to perform the

carrying operation from one wheel to another.

3

Early Calculating Machines

• Stepped reckoner

• Textile industry – Jacquard Loom

• Difference engine

The next significant improvement in calculating devices was made in 1673 by Gottfried Wilhelm

von Leibniz. Leibniz invented a calculator that could add, subtract, multiply, and divide

accurately.

As inventors worked to improve mechanical calculators, they needed a better way to input data

than setting clockwork dials. The means for this better way had already been created, and in an

unlikely place - the weaving rooms of France.

In the early nineteenth century, a French weaver named Joseph Jacquard developed a loom

that could be programmed. The loom used large cards with holes punched in them to control

automatically the pattern that was woven into the material. The result was a thick, cloth with

repetitive floral or geometric patterns. The punched cards used in Jacquard's loom were

adapted by others to serve as the primary form of computer input. Punched cards were used to

enter both data and programs, until about 20 years ago.

Charles Babbage, born and raised in England in the early 1800s, created the first modern

computer design. While working on his doctorate, he had to solve many complex formulas, and

he could not solve these problems manually in a reasonable length of time. To solve the equations, he began developing a steam-powered machine, which he called the difference engine.

4

Early Calculating Machines

through those of today

• Analytical engine

• The 1890 Census machine

• ENIAC

Later, Babbage turned to planning a far more ambitious device, the analytical engine. The machine was designed to use a form of punched card similar to Jacquard's punched cards for data input. This device would have been a full-fledged modern computer with a recognizable input, output, processing, and storage cycle. Unfortunately, the technology of Babbage's time could not produce the parts required to complete the analytical engine. Ada Lovelace, the daughter of the poet Lord Byron and Babbage’s assistant, wrote the set of instructions the analytical engine would follow to compute Bernoulli numbers. She is considered the first programmer. The programming language Ada used by the Department of Defense was named after her.

The next major figure in the history of computing was Dr. Herman Hollerith, a statistician. The

United States Constitution calls for a census of the population every ten years, as a mean of

determining representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. By the late nineteenth

century, the hand-processing techniques were taking so long the 1880 census took more than

seven years to tabulate. The need to automate the census became apparent.

Dr. Hollerith devised a plan to encode the answers to the census questions on punched cards.

He also developed a punching device that could process fifty cards in a minute. These

innovations enabled the 1890 census to be completed in two and one-half years.

In the late 1930s, the English mathematician Alan Turing wrote a paper describing all the

capabilities and limitations of a hypothetical general-purpose computing machine that became

known as the Turing Machine.

World War II created a need for the American military to calculate trajectories for missiles

quickly. The ENIAC was the result, though it was not completed until two months after the war

ended. ENIAC could do five multiplication operations in a second. It was difficult to use

because every time it was used to solve a new problem, the staff had to rewire it completely to

enter the new instructions. This led to the stored program concept, developed by John von

Neumann. The computer's program is stored in internal memory with the data.

The first electronic computers were complex machines that required large investments to build

and use. The computer industry might never have developed without government support and

funding. World War II provided a stimulus for governments to invest enough money in research

to create powerful computers. The earliest computers, created during the war, were the

exclusive possessions of government and military organizations. Only in the 1950s did

businesses become producers and consumers of computers. And only in the 1960s did it

become obvious that a huge market existed for these machines.

To describe the computer's technological progress since World War II, computer scientists

speak of "computer generations." Each generation of technology has its own identifying

characteristics. We're now using fourth-generation computer technology, and some experts say

a fifth generation is already upon us.

The evolution of digital computing is often divided into generations. Each generation is

characterized by dramatic improvements over the previous generation in the technology used to

build computers, the internal organization of computer systems, and programming languages.

Although not usually associated with computer generations, there has been a steady

improvement in algorithms, including algorithms used in computational science.

6 Generations of Modern Computers

1st Generation 1945 - 1959

5

1st Generation 1945-1959

• Made to order operating

instructions

• Different binary coded programs

told it how to operate

• Difficult to program and limited

versatility and speed

• Vacuum tubes

• Magnetic drum storage

The first generation of computers used vacuum tubes, were large and slow, and produced a lot

of heat. The vacuum tubes failed frequently. The instructions were given in machine language,

which is composed entirely of the numbers, 0’s and 1’s. Very few specialists knew how to

program these early computers. All data and instructions came into these computers from

punched cards. Magnetic drum storage was primarily used, with magnetic tape emerging in

1957.

2nd Generation 1959-1963

6

2nd Generation 1959-1963

• Transistors

• Memory – magnetic core

• Assembly language

• Printers and memory

• Programming languages

• Careers

First-generation computers were notoriously unreliable, largely because the vacuum tubes kept

burning out. The transistor took computers into the second generation. They are small, require

very little power, and run cool. And they're much more reliable. Memory was composed of

small magnetic cores strung on wire within the computer. For secondary storage, magnetic

disks were developed, although magnetic tape was still commonly used. They were easier to

program because of the development of high level languages, that are easier to understand and

are not machine specific. Second-generation computers could communicate with each other

over telephone lines, transmitting data from one location to another. The problems stemmed

from slow input and output devices which left the machine idle. The consequences were parallel

programming and multi-programming.

3rd Generation 1964 - 1971

7

3rd Generation 1964-1971

• Quartz clock

• Integrated circuit

• Operating systems

Integrated circuits took computer technology into the third generation. These circuits incorporate

many transistors and electronic circuits on a single wafer or chip of silicon. This allowed for

computers that cost the same, yet offered more memory and faster processing.

Silicon Valley was born with the creation of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), and

introduction of the minicomputer. Time-sharing became popular, as well as a variety of

programming languages. The result was a competitive market for language translators and the

beginning of the software industry.

Another significant development of this generation was the launching of the first

telecommunications satellite.

4th Generation 1971 - 1984

8

4th Generation 1971 – 1984

• LSI – Large Scale Integration

• VLSI – Very Large Scale

Integration

• Chip

• General consumer usage

• Networks

The microprocessor emerged, a tiny computer on a chip. It has changed the world! The

techniques, called very large scale integration (VLSI), used to build microprocessors enable chip

companies to mass produce computer chips that contain hundreds of thousands, or even

millions, of transistors.

Microcomputers emerged, aimed at computer hobbyists. Personal computers became popular

first with the Apple computer, followed by the IBM compatibles.

High speed computer networking in the form of local area networks (LANs) and wide area

networks (WANs) provide connections within a building or across the globe.

5th Generation 1984 – 1990

9

5th Generation 1984 – 1990

• Parallel processing

• Multi-processing

• Chip advancement

The development of the next generation of computer systems is characterized mainly by the

acceptance of parallel processing. Until this time parallelism was limited to pipelining and vector

processing, or at most to a few processors sharing jobs. The fifth generation saw the

introduction of machines with hundreds of processors that could all be working on different parts

of a single program. The scale of integration in semiconductors continued at an incredible pace -

by 1990 it was possible to build chips with a million components - and semiconductor memories

became standard on all computers.

6th Generation 1990 – now

10

6th Generation 1990 – now

• This is the future

• What new advancements lie

ahead?

• What changes will be big enough

to create this new generation?

This generation is beginning with many gains in parallel computing, both in the hardware area

and in improved understanding of how to develop algorithms to exploit diverse, massively parallel

architectures. Parallel systems now compete with vector processors in terms of total computing

power and most expect parallel systems to dominate the future.

One of the most dramatic changes in the sixth generation will be the explosive growth of wide

area networking. Network bandwidth has expanded tremendously in the last few years and will

continue to improve for the next several years. T1 transmission rates are now standard for

regional networks, and the national ``backbone'' that interconnects regional networks uses T3.

Networking technology is becoming more widespread than its original strong base in universities

and government laboratories as it is rapidly finding application in K-12 education, community

networks and private industry. The federal commitment to high performance computing has been

further strengthened with the passage of two particularly significant pieces of legislation: the High

Performance Computing Act of 1991, which established the High Performance Computing and

Communication Program (HPCCP) and Sen. Gore's Information Infrastructure and Technology

Act of 1992, which addresses a broad spectrum of issues ranging from high performance

computing to expanded network access and the necessity to make leading edge technologies

available to educators from kindergarten through graduate school.

Pioneers of Computing

11

Pioneers of Computing

• Charles Babbage

• Konrad Zuse

• John von Neumann

• Alan Turing

Charles Babbage - One of the first renown pioneers, referred to as the "Father of Computing"

for his contributions to the basic design of the computer through his Analytical machine. His

previous Difference Engine was a special purpose device intended for the production of tables.

Konrad Zuse – a German engineer who built the first program-controlled computing machine in

the world. He has brought his inventions, patent outlines, talks and lectures to paper between

1936 and 1995.

John von Neumann - one of this century’s preeminent scientists, along with being a great

mathematician and physicist, was an early pioneer in fields such as game theory, nuclear

deterrence, and modern computing. Von Neumann’s experience with mathematical modeling at

Los Alamos, and the computational tools he used there, gave him the experience he needed to

push the development of the computer. Also, because of his far reaching and influential

connections, through the IAS, Los Alamos, a number of Universities and his reputation as a

mathematical genius, he was in a position to secure funding and resources to help develop the

modern computer. In 1947 this was a very difficult task because computing was not yet a

respected science. Most people saw computing only as making a bigger and faster calculator.

Von Neumann on the other hand saw bigger possibilities.

Alan Turing - Turing was a student and fellow of King's College Cambridge and was a graduate

student at Princeton University from 1936 to 1938. While at Princeton Turing published "On

Computable Numbers", a paper in which he conceived an abstract machine, now called a Turing

Machine. The Turing Machine is still studied by computer scientists. He was a pioneer in

developing computer logic as we know it today and was one of the first to approach the topic of

artificial intelligence.

Important Machines and Developments

12

Important Machines

• IBM 650 introduced in 1953

• IBM 7090 first 2nd Generation computer

• Texas Instruments and Fairchild

semiconductor both announce the

integrated circuit in 1959

• DEC PDP 8 the first microcomputer sold for

$18,000 in 1963

• IBM 360 introduced in 1964, used

integrated circuits

• 1968 Intel is established by Robert Noyce,

Grove, and Moore

• 1970 floppy disk introduced

• IBM 650 introduced in 1953

• IBM 7090 the first of the "second-generation" of computers build with transistors was

introduced in 1958.

• Texas Instruments and Fairchild semiconductor both announce the integrated circuit in

1959.

• DEC PDP 8 the first minicomputer sold for $18,000 in 1963.

• The IBM 360 is introduced in April of 1964. It used integrated circuits

• In 1968 Intel is established by Robert Noyce, Grove, and Moore.

• In 1970 the floppy disk was introduced

13

Important Machines

• 1972 – Intel’s 8008 and 8080

• 1972 – DEC PDP 11/45

• 1976 – Jobs and Wozniak build the Apple I

• 1978 – DEC VAX 11/780

• 1979 – Motorolla 68000

• 1981 – IBM PC

• 1982 – Compaq IBM-compatible PC

• 1984 – Sony and Phillips CD-ROM

• 1988 – Next computer by Steve Jobs

• 1992 – DEC 64-bit RISC alpha

• 1993 – Intel’s Pentium

• 1972 -- Intel's 8008 and 8080

• 1972 -- DEC PDP 11/45

• 1976 -- Jobs and Wozniak build the Apple I

• 1978 -- DEC VAX 11/780

• 1979 -- Motorola 68000

• 1981 -- IBM PC

• 1982 -- Compaq IBM-compatible PC

• 1984 -- Sony and Phillips CD-ROM

• 1988 -- Next computer by Steve Jobs

• 1992 -- DEC 64-bit RISC alpha

• 1993 -- Intel's Pentium

This evolution of machines has provided the benefits of improved reliability, reduced size,

increased speed, improved efficiency, and lower cost with each evolution.

Taxonomy of Computers

14

Taxonomy of Computers

• Mainframes

• Super computers

• Microprocessors

A mainframe is a very large and expensive computer capable of supporting hundreds, or even

thousands, of users simultaneously. In the hierarchy that starts with a simple microprocessor (in

watches, for example) at the bottom and moves to supercomputers at the top, mainframes are

just below supercomputers. In some ways, mainframes are more powerful than supercomputers

because they support more simultaneous programs. But supercomputers can execute a single

program faster than a mainframe. The distinction between small mainframes and minicomputers

is vague, depending really on how the manufacturer wants to market its machines.

Microprocessors take the critical components of a complete computer and house it on a single

tiny chip.

Wirth’s Law

15

Wirth’s Law

• The software gets slower faster

than the hardware gets faster

• What does this mean?

References:

Pictures and history of computer:



Computer Laws:



Obstacles to a Technological Revolution:



Computers used in society:



Technological revolution:



Internet:



Abacus Applet:



5 th generation computer:



Computer in use:



Wirth’s law:



................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download