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1000 BCE
The Abacus
The Abacus was the first calculator that dates back to around 1000 BC. It was used in several ancient societies including area of Europe and Asia. It was not really automatic, but it recorded the number a mathematician was on while they continued working on the problem.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abacus) -
Blaise Pascal: Pascal's Gear System
Pascal's gear system was another type of calculator created by Blaise Pascal. It only did addition and subtraction but resulted in accurate answers. It used a gear system to count in a similar way that an odometer works: only when a whole revolution of one gear occurs, the next gear is turned. It was a big step from the Abacus. -
Joseph Jacquard
Joseph Jacquard created a weaving machine called the Jacquard Loom. It was a mechanical loom that incorporated certain threads into a pattern based on specific holes in a pasteboard card. This machine had the base idea that many future ones were based on. -
Charles Babbage: Analytical Engine
The analytical engine was created by Charles Babbage. He wanted a computer that would flawlessly add columns of numbers for him. It was powered by steam and had a mechanical memory that saved the outcomes. This machine allowed for little error in calculations. -
William Burroughs: The Burroughs Adding Machine
William Burroughs created a mechanical counting machine. His would go on to be extremely popular and sell over one million after his death. His method was successful unlike Babbage's counting machine and was put on the market.
(http://www.xnumber.com/xnumber/hancock7.htm) -
Herman Hollerith: Hollerith and Tabulating Machine
This Machine was created by Herman Hollerith. He created an electrical punch card tabulator and figured out a way to sort that information. The business Hollerith created would later become IBM, a very common name we all know today. -
Ada Bryon, Countess of Lovelace
Ada Bryon made Babbage's idea come to life. She included some of her own ideas into his plan. She created the programming loop, meaning a "sequence of operations is repeated within a program." -
Howard Aiken
Howard Aiken was a professor at Harvard University. He has an idea for the basis of what would become the Mark-1 computer. He came in contact with IBM to try and get funds to create the computer.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_H._Aiken) -
Grace Hopper
She was in the Unites States Navy and became the first programmer of the Navy's computer. It was an 8 by 8 foot Mark-1 computer. The discovered the term "bug" for a computer error after finding one. -
Thomas Watson: Harvard Mark-1
Thomas Watson offered about a million dollars and help to Harvard University to make a computer, the Harvard Mark-1. This computer was going to be able to "preform a series of instructions automatically." The computer took up an entire room and contained 500 miles of wire. Stated use in 1944 and ran until 1959.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Mark_I) -
John Von Neumann
He developed an electrical system called the binary system that can be used with the IAS computer. It used vacuum tubes and a binary system. The binary system used a system of ones and zeros to perform certain tasks, they are called a bit. A combination of eight digits is called a byte. -
ENIAC
The ENIAC was one of the first totally electronic computers. It stands for electronic numerical integrator and computer. It used vacuum tubes instead of relays making it up to one thousand times faster.
(http://www.ushistory.org/oddities/eniac.htm) -
Memory
Memory is also known as RAM or random aces memory. Throughout the 1940's many people worked on developing computer memory including J. Presper Eckert, Jay Forrester, Jan A. Rajchman, and An Wang. Today memory gets data and instructions from other parts of the computer and organizes it as binary digits that are stored in groups to make it easy to access quickly. -
Processor
The processor's job is to perform arithmetic and convert the memory's numbers into new numbers that will be sent somewhere new. The development of the processor began with the EDVAC in 1949 by John Von Neumann. Throughout the next few decades the processor would go from being as large as a man to a tiny microchip. -
Storage
Computer storage stores a large amount for a long time, unlike memory. It is a bit cheaper and slower than memory. There are many types of storage such as auxiliary storage, disk storage, and tapes. Many computer programs come on storage files like discs. -
Hardware: input and output
Larger computers have something called hardware which consists of input and output section. Input devices include keyboard, mouse, modem, and scanners which put information onto the computer. Output devices includes things such as phones and music players that take things from the computer and download them onto the phone. -
Software
Software is all of the programs on a computer.Software is not physical, it is something created on the computer for the computer, it tells the computer what to do. Software is made by programmers.
