History of Computer Science

1. History of Computer Science A lesson by Matt Smith

2. Before 1900 – The Abacus • Computational devices have been in use for a very long time • It is predicted that the Abacus has been in use since year 3000 B.C. • An abacus is a device with beads on it that can be moved up or down on sticks to aid with counting and calculating.

3. Before 1900 – John Napier • Another computing device that has been used for a very long time is Napier’s Bones • Napier’s bones were invented circa year 1610 by John Napier • John Napier was a Scottish man who developed the use of logarithms

4. Images of Napier's bones and an abacus Ancient Chinese Abacus Napier’s Bones

5. Before 1900 – Joseph-Marie Jacquard • Joseph-Marie Jacquard developed a system in the early 1800’s from a loom that could weave complicated patterns • This loom created patterns depending on the number and arrangement of holes in punched cards that were fed into the machine • This punched card method became significant and was the first of many computers to use this

6. Joseph-Marie Jacquard's LOOM

7. 1900-1939 • Developments on devices used for calculations kept improving • Calculation devices for specific purposes, such as factoring integers began to also develop • Electrically operated devices started to exist around this time • Big names in Computer Science history like Alan Turing and Kurt Gödel became prominent in this field

8. Alan Turing • In 1936, Alan Turing and Alonzo Church introduced the more mainstream use of an algorithm • Alan Turing contributed a significant amount to computer sciences, such as a thesis and a description of the well-known “Turing machine” • The Turing machine, in theory, can simulate the completion of any algorithm which can be performed on a modern computer if given enough resources to do so. • The Turing machine works by printing, erasing, and rewriting data on an infinitely long piece of paper • Alan Turing was arrested for “gross indecency” for being a homosexual many years later • He committed suicide by eating an apple that he had poisoned

9. Turing Machine

10. 1940’s • The times of war sparked even more development in the field of computing due to the usefulness for warfare • The first electronic digital computer was created • Computers were used to calculate targets for ballistic weapons, and as a result the weapons were more accurate and took less time to use • Computers were also used for decrypting and code-breaking in the war times • An electronic computer that was able to store programs was designed called the EDVAC • One of the people who worked on the EDVAC is named John Von Neumann, a notable mathematician

11. John Von Neumann • Von Neumann was an extremely talented mathematician • He developed many theories and published a lot of work in mathematics and programming which accelerated the growth of computing • Von Neumann also helped in the creation of “The Atomic Bomb,” which was later dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the second World War.

12. 1940’s • In Germany, a man named KonradZuse built the first operating program controlled calculator for general purpose in 1941 • This calculator was called the “Z3” • The invention of the transistor in 1947 made way for the creation of the microprocessor and the microprocessor revolution in computer sciences • The transistor earned the inventors of it a Nobel Prize in physics. • The inventors of the transistor are named John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley

13. Computer transistors

14. 1950’s • The first computer “bug” was discovered • The bug was a moth that had gotten into a computer at Harvard and caused issues with the computer • The term was later coined and is used today as a word to describe an issue in a computer, usually in code or programming • A significant compiler called LISP was invented for artificial intelligence programming by John McCarthy in 1958

15. 1960’s • ARPAnet had started to be created, which was a precursor to todays Internet • There were many advances in the use and design of Operating Systems. • The first real microprocessor chip was invented near the end of the decade • Many new programming languages were developed, such as BASIC

16. A modern microprocessor

17. 1970’s • The Unix operating system was developed at Bell Laboratories • A notable programming language called C was also created in the 70’s, as well as Pascal and Ada • The first supercomputer was created in this time. One of the first was titled CRAY-1 • The CRAY-1 could perform 160 million operations per second • There were further advances in the use of algorithms • Computers grew more and more complicated throughout the years

18. 1980’s • This decade is the time when the first Personal Computers started to become popular • Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, founders of Apple, helped significantly with this • The first computer viruses were developed in 1981 • The first successful Portable Computer was marketed called the Osborne I • The US National Science Foundation started NSFnet, which was also a precursor to todays Internet

19. 1990’s and on • Interest in Quantum Computing started to grow • Computers are constantly growing smaller and smaller in size with the further advancements in technology • Parallel Computing, in which multiple programs can be ran at once of a computer, continues to grow and become stronger

20. Bibliography • https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/~shallit/Courses/134/history.html • http://www.computerhistory.org/ • http://www.eingang.org/Lecture/ • http://www.mrtc.mdh.se/publications/0337.pdf • http://www.cs.brown.edu/~jes/papers/09_ch5.pdf • http://www.firstpost.com/topic/person/john-von-neumann-history-of-computer-video-anLX3hir0cg-14840-17.html • http://systemcomputing.org/turing%20award/Maurice_1967/TheFirstDraft.pdf • http://mathworld.wolfram.com/TuringMachine.html