For centuries, men had lived on earth without keeping records.They had no need of numbers and did not know to count.As they stared to settle down in tribes,records and number become necessary.Sticks and pebbles were used to count people and animals. Later, counting was done on finger and the fact of having ten finger led to the development of the decimal number system . As nations grew, trade commerce and technology developed faster and the need of calculating aids were keenly felt. the development of computing machine can be categorized as of mechanical age and modern age.
- Mechanical Age
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| The Abacus |
The Abacus
The earliest calculating device, Which is still in use today, is the Abacus. It was first used in China, Some 30000 year ago. It consists of a rectangular wooden frame with parallel bars with with beads strung on them. Moving beads towards and away from the bars is counting .There are various versions of the abacus. Experienced users can calculate very fast using the Abacus and even beat the electronic calculator in simple calculations.
Napier's Bones
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| Napier's Bones |
It was invented by the Scottish Mathematician John Napier in 1617 AD. In 1614, he published the first table of logarithm in book called Radiologist Which Was much helpful in simplifying the multiplication of large numbers. In 1617 he invented a small instrument constructed of ten rods called Napier's Bone which were Multiplication tables inscribed on strips of wood or bone,.
The slide Rule
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| The slide Rule |
An English Mathematician William Oughtred combined the principles of the logarithm and Napier's bones to construct the Slide Rule in 1620 A.D. It consists of two scales, one moving over the other. The rulers are marked off in such a manner that the distance on the scales is proportional to the algorithm of the numbers. By sliding one scale over the other one can easily multiply and divide. Engineers and mathematicians extensively used slide rules until the electronic calculators replaced them.
Pascaline :
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| Pascaline |
Blasie Pascal , a French Mathematician, Built the first mechanical digital calculator called Pascaline in 1642 AD. The machine was capable of doing addition and subtraction. The numbers added together are dialed in, via the row of numbered wheels at the bottom, and the result shown in the square window at the top .
Stepped Recknor
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| Stepped Recknor |
A German Mathematician Goth fried Von Leibniz in 1671 invented an improved calculating machine called stepped Recknor. It was the first calculator that could perform all four arithmetic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication division and could find out square root also. Modern digital computer works on the basis of the same principal .
Charles Babbage
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| Charles Babbage |
Charles Babbage, Professor of mathematics at Cambridge University, Developed two elector mechanical calculators called Difference Engine (1822AD) and Analytical Engine (1833 AD) . He gave the idea of input Unit, Central Processing Unit and output Unit in the machine, But his ideas were far ahead of his time and technology of his time could not match them. So, Babbage could not complete his machine, Yet his theoretical Machine contained all the elements of a modern computer and Babbage is often called the father of modern computer.
Lady Augusta Ada Lovelace
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| Lady Augusta Ada Lovelace |
Lady Augusta Ada Lovelace, daughter of the great English poet. Lord Byron, Supported Babbage's idea and Used binary Concept for his invention instead of the decimal concept. She wrote some programs for Analytical Engine . That is why she is regarded as the first computer programmer in the world.
Dr. Herman Hollerith
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| Dr. Herman Hollerith |
Dr. Herman Hollerith made a tabulating machine is 1887. He used punched cards in his machine. He used to code the data by representing it by punched whole combination on the cards in his machine.
- The Modern Age
Mark-I
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| Mark-I |
Mark-I was developed by professor Howard Aiken in 1973, Which is also called as the first electromagnetically computer. It is also called Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC). It was based on Charles Babbage's principle after 100 years of his death.
Atnasoff Berry Computer (ABC)
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| Atnasoff Berry Computer (ABC) |
Atnasoff Berry Computer (ABC) was developed by Dr. John Vincent Atnasoff and Clifford E. Berry in between 1939- 1942. It is also called the first digital computer. It was the first computing machine which introduced the idea of binary arithmetic, memory and logic circuits.
ENIAC
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| ENIAC |
John Mauchley and J.P Eckert built the first electronic computer in 1946. This machine was called ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator). It used vacuum tube storage and could perform about 300 calculations per second. There were 18000 vacuum tubes. 7000 resistors, 10000 condensers and 6000 switches . It weighed 30 tones and occupied a pace 3000 cubic feet. Vacuum tubes or thermionic valves were invented in 1906 by Lee De forest.
John Von Neumann
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| John Von Neumann |
A great mathematician john Von Neumann Wrote a peper in which he suggested the following thing
a)Binary numbers system should be used in Computers, and
b) Computer instructions as well as data should be stored internally and executed automatically.
Since then, these two ideas have become basis parts of computer design. His second suggestion is known as the stored program concept. so, he is called the "father of stored program".
EDSAC
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| EDSAC |
The first computer to incorporate Neumann's Idea was EDSAC (Electronic Daley Storage Automatic Computer) built in 1949 by Professor Maurice Wilkes at Cambridge University. It was the first stored program computer.
EDVAC
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| EDVAC |
EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) was built by J.P. Eckert and john Mauchly in 1952. It was the first electronic computer to apply the stored program concept given by john Von Neumann.
UNIVAC
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| UNIVAC |
John presper Eckert and john W. Mauchly formed their own company and in 1951 built the UNIVAC (Universa Automatic Computer). It used magnetic tape for input device. It was the first commercial computer.
Computer System.
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