Development of Computer
Introduction
Have you ever thought how different your life would have been without the computer? It is indeed rightly called "The machine that changed the world". But the computer you see today on your desktop was not invented all of a sudden. It has taken years of rigorous research to reach the present stage, and scientists are still working hard to make it better and better.
Let us learn a little about the development of computers over time.
History of Computers
The history of computers began with simple Adding Devices. These devices did not have circuits, memory, etc. They were primarily mechanical in nature.
Abacus
(Image from Wikimedia Commons)
The Abacus, one of the earliest adding machines invented in China, was the first manual calculating device invented to count large numbers. It consisted of a wooden frame holding horizontal wires with beads strung on them. Simple calculations like addition and subtraction could be performed by moving the beads according to certain rules. It's still used in some parts of the world today.
Napier's Bone
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Napier's Bone was a calculating device developed by Sir John Napier in 1616. It helped people perform multiplication by doing a series of additions and division by a series of subtractions. It was a significant advancement in computing at that time. This device had multiplication tables inscribed on strips of wood or bone. Logarithms, also invented by Napier, played a crucial role in the development of this tool.
Pascaline
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Pascaline was a mechanical calculating device invented by Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician, in 1642. This device was also called Arithmatique. It consisted of a box with eight movable wheels. Each wheel had 10 teeth for numbers 0 to 9. Numbers were fed into the machine by dialing them on the wheels. This device could only add or subtract. It was a significant step towards automated calculation.
Difference Engine
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In 1822, a British mathematician and inventor, Charles Babbage, proposed a machine called the Difference Engine to automatically calculate a series of mathematical values. It was designed to calculate polynomial functions using the method of finite differences. Though innovative, Babbage never completed the Difference Engine due to funding issues and the complexity of the design.
Analytical Engine
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In 1833, Charles Babbage designed the Analytical Engine, considered by many to be the first general-purpose mechanical computer. It was far more ambitious than the Difference Engine. It was planned to have an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), memory, and even a form of programmable control using punched cards, inspired by the Jacquard loom. Like the Difference Engine, it was never completed during Babbage's lifetime. However, its conceptual design laid the foundation for many of the principles used in modern computers. Ada Lovelace, a mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron, is considered the first computer programmer for her work on the Analytical Engine, writing an algorithm intended to be carried out by the machine.
Tabulating Machine
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Herman Hollerith, an American statistician, invented a machine called the Tabulating Machine in 1880. It was an electrical device based on punch cards for processing and storing information. It was basically invented to compute the population of the USA for the 1890 census. This machine significantly sped up the data processing compared to manual methods.
Herman Hollerith's Tabulator became so popular and successful that he started his own company, which later became International Business Machines (IBM). This marked the beginning of the era of automated data processing and the rise of large-scale computing.
Beyond these early inventions, the 20th century saw rapid advancements in computer technology, including the development of electronic computers like the Atanasoff–Berry Computer (ABC), ENIAC, and Colossus, the invention of the transistor, the integrated circuit, and the microprocessor, leading to the powerful and compact computers we use today. This history is a testament to human ingenuity and the continuous pursuit of better tools for calculation and information processing.
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