1. Computing in the Modern World
Mr. Van Nus
Colquitt County High School

2. Why Study Computing in the Modern world?
Broaden your experience with/knowlege of with computers
Pursuing a career in the very profitable area of computing (Job Preparation)
Just curious and want to know what all the fuss/hype is about

3. The History of Computers
Mr. Van Nus
Colquitt County High School

4. Introduction Difficult to imagine life w/o computers
Computers as we know them are relatively new devices
Electronic comp. date back to 1940
In 60 years, technology has advanced at an astounding rate
Capacity and speed doubling every months
Moore’s Law
Pocket calculators of now contain more memory and speed than the monster computers of old

5. Introduction
Trace the progression from primitive mechanical calculators to modern PC’s
Development of computers has been rapid, but far from steady
Several key inventions have revolutionized computing, resulting in improved: computer design, efficiency, ease of use, and capability.

6. Generations 1 - 5

7. Generation 0
1642 – 1945
Know as period of “Scientific Achievement” or the “Century of Genius”
Scientific Pioneers
Galileo & Kepler
Mathematicians
Fermat and Leibniz
Physicsts
Boyle and Newton
Naturalism - universe believed to be a complex machine
Understood by observation & experiments
Increased interest in science & math + advanced mechanics = first computing devices

8. Timeline Wilhelm Schickard Blaise Pascal – French scientist
Credited with first working calculator in 1623
Details of design lost in fire, historians know little about it’s workings
Blaise Pascal – French scientist
Earliest surviving prototype of mechanical calculator, 1642, only 19 yrs. Old
Used gears and dials, powered by hand 8 digit capacity
Only add/subtract

9. Timeline Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz
1672 expanded Pascal’s design to build a calculator that could multiply and divide
Pascal and Leibniz designs were very complicated making mass production next to impossible.
Early 1800, manufacturing improved and mechanical calculators became common in business
Thomas de Colmar’s calculator
widely used throughout 19th century

10. Timeline Programmable devices Joseph-Marie Jacquard
First programmable machine not a calculator, but a loom
Joseph-Marie Jacquard
1801 – used removable punch cards to represent patterns
Laid foundation for programmable devices
Significant impact on economy
Task were previously complex and tedious making rugs and fabrics very expensive
Now mass produced, decreasing the price

11. Timeline
Jacquard’s punch card design was used by Charles Babbage in 1821 to design the “Difference Engine”
Steam powered mechanical calculator used for solving math equations
Never able to construct a fully-working model
A prototype was used by Navy to aid navigation

12. Timeline
Charles Babbage using the same concept then designed the “Analytical Engine”
Accepted input from punch cards
Printed output on paper
Included a readable/writable memory
Used for holding data and programs
Called the “store”
Included a control unit
Retrieving and executing instructions
Called the “Mill”

13. Timeline
Although the “analytical engine” was never finished, Augusta Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace, wrote down extensive, step-by-step instructions
This led to her being know as the world’s first computer programmer

14. Timeline
Punch cards resurfaced yet again in the late 19th century, when Herman Hollerith created the tabulating machine
Used to sort and categorize data for the 1890 US census
Each hole represented specific data
Metal pegs passed through the holes onto an electrical plate completing a circuit
The machine sensed the electrical connection and used it to sort the data
Eg. Men, 30-40, from Maryland
Using the tabulating machine:
1890 census = 6 weeks
1880 censuc = 7 years

15. International Business Machines or
Timeline
Hollerith founded a company to market this machine, which under the leadership of Thomas J. Watson, became:
International Business Machines or
IBM

16. Timeline Electromagnetic Relays Introduced in the 1930’s
A mechanical switch that can be used to control the flow of electricity
Konrad Zuse, 1930’s
First relay-powered computer
Work was classified by the German govt. and destroyed during WWII
Same time John Atanasoff (Iowa St.) and George Stibitz (Bell Labs) independently designed their own relay-powered comp.

17. Timeline Howard Aiken, Harvard Mark 1 computer in 1944
Perform math operations
Limited to add, subtract, multiply, and divide
Could store up to 72 # in memory
1/10 of a sec for add, subtract
6 sec to perform multiplication
12 seconds to perform a division
100 faster than anything at that time