Computer Notes Chapter -3 The Evolution of Computer ! History of Computer ! Abacus ! Pascal's Mechanical Calculator ! Charles Babbage Computer ! The Difference Engine ! The Analytical Engine ! The Mark I Calculator (1937-44) ! The Atanasoff -Berry Computer (1930-42) ! The ENIAC (1943-46) ! The EDVAC (1946-52) ! The EDSAC (1947-49) ! Manchester Man Mark I (1948) ! The UNIVACI (1951)

                                 

   The Evolution of Computer 

History of Computer 

    Necessity is the mother of invention The saying holds true for computers also because computers were invented as a result of man's search for fast and accurate calculating devices. Computer history is about 500 years old. The earliest device used for simple calculation is- 

1. Abacus: 

     Chinese developed this device. It is also known as "Sorobon" . Abacus seems to be earlies  calculating machine Abacus consists of beads, which can move in  wires. The wires represented the column. The right most columns represented the unit, the next for ten and so on. Moving the beads at appropriate column represented number. Abacus can perform simple addition addition and subtraction. 

2. Pascal's Mechanical Calculator:

    Blaise Pascal invented the first mechanical adding machine in 1642, also known as Pascaline. Letter, in the year 1671, Baron Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz of Germany invented the first calculator for multiplication . Keyboard machines originated in the United States around 1880 and extensively used even today.Around this period only Herman Hollerith can up with the concept of punched card, which are extensively used as input media in modern digital computers Business machines and calculators made their appearance in Europe and America towards the end of the nineteenth century. 

3. Charles Babbage Computer:

     Charles Babbage, a professor of mathematics at Cambridge University, invented two computers. These are- 

 (a)  Difference Engine 

 (b)  The Analytical Engine 

Now Charles Babbage also known as the grand father of modern computers.

  

(a) The Difference Engine -

        It was based on the mathematical principle of differences and was used to solve calculation on large numbers using a formula. IT was also used for solving the polynomial and trigonometric functions. 

(b) The Analytical Engine -

        It was a general purpose computing device, which could be used for performing any mathematical operations automatically. It consists of the following components- 

 

I.         The Store -  A mechanical memory unit consisting of set of counter wheels. 

II.        The mill - An arithmetic unit that is capable of performing the four basic arithmetic operations. 

III.       Cards-   Cards contain instructions. 

IV        Output-  Output on punch card device.

4)  The Mark I Calculator (1937-44):

       Also known as Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator, this was the first fully automatic calculating machine designed by Howard Aiken of Harvard University in collaboration with IBM (International Business Machine) Corporation . it design was based on the techniques already developed for punched card machinery although this machine proved to be extremely reliable. it was very complex in design and huge in size. It used over 3000 electricity actuated switches to control its operations and was approximately 50 feet long 8 fee high. It was capable of performing five basic arithmetic operations. addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and table reference .

5) The Atanasoff -Berry Computer (1930-42)

     This electronic machine was developed by Dr. John Atanasoff to solve certain mathematical equations. It was called Atanasoff-Berry Computer, or ABC, after its inventor's name and his assistant, Clifford Berry. It used 45 vacuum tubes for internal logic and capacitors for storage. 

6) The ENIAC (1943-46): 

      The Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator (ENIAC) was the first all electronic computer. It the Moore School of Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A by a design team led by professor J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly. ENIAC was developed as a result of military need. It tool up the wall space a 20*40 square feet room and used 18,000 vacuum tubes. The addition of two numbers was achieved in 200 microseconds. 

7) The EDVAC (1946-52):

      The operation of ENIAC was seriously handicapped by the wiring board. This problem was later overcome by the new concept of "stored program" developed by Dr. John Von Neumann. The electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC) was designed on stored program concept. Von Neumann has also got a share of the credit for introducing the idea of storing both instructions and data in the binary from (a system that uses only two digits -0 & 1 to represent all characters)

8) The EDSAC (1947-49):

     Almost simultaneously with EDVAC if U.S.A, the Britishers developed the electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC). The machine executed its first program in May 1949.

9) Manchester Man Mark I (1948) :

     The computer was a small experimental machine based on the stored program concept. It was designed at Manchester University by a group of scientist headed by Professor M.H.A Newman. Its storage capacity was only 32 works, each of 31 binary digits. This was too limited to store data and instructions. Hence, the Manchester Mark I was hardly on any practical use. 

10) The UNIVACI (1951):

       The Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC) was the first digital computer, which was not "one of a kind" . In 1952, the International Business Machine (IBM) Corporation introduced the model 701 as commercial computer. In rapid succession, improved models of the UNIVAC I and other 700-series machines were introduce. In 1953, IBM produced the IBM-650 and sold over 1000 of these computers.