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Journey Through Computing History: From Abacus to Microprocessors

Explore the evolution of computing, from the abacus to microprocessors, and learn about key milestones and innovations in the field. Understand the difference between calculators and computers, tracing the development of early mechanical devices to modern electronic systems. Discover the impact of pioneers like Charles Babbage and Grace Hopper, and delve into the transition from punch cards to integrated circuits. Gain insights into the components of modern computers, from input devices to the central processing unit. Join us on a visualized journey of computing history!

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Journey Through Computing History: From Abacus to Microprocessors

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  1. Introduction to Computing CMSC 120: Visualizing Information 1/29/08

  2. What is Computing? • To determine by calculating • To use a computer What is a Computer? • A device that accepts information (data), • processes it according to specific instructions, • and provides the results as new information

  3. *A computer: a person who works with numbers First Computers Pen and Paper People 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Number Systems Abacus

  4. Mechanical Age (1450-1840) Slide Rule • Early 1600s • An analog computer • Blaise Pascal (1642) • A gear driven adding machine Pascaline Analog: represents data by measurement of a continuous physical variable

  5. Mechanical Age (1450-1840) Stepped Reckoner • Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1670s) • Add, subtract, multiply, divide • Mechanically unreliable

  6. Mechanical Age (1450-1840) Punch Card • Joseph Jacquard (1810) • Weaving instructions for looms stored in cards with holes punched in them

  7. Mechanical Age (1450-1840) The Analytical Engine • Followed program in punched cards • Store information in memory unit • Make decisions The Difference Engine (1822) • Charles Babbage

  8. Analytical Engine Anecdote • Babbage’s collaborator was Ada, Countess of Lovelace, daughter of Lord Bryon • Sponsored, tested, publicized device • “First Programmer” • Stated that the engine would never “originate anything” • A machine, no matter how powerful, could think

  9. Electro-mechanical Age (1840 – 1940) • Hermann Hollerith (end 19th century) • Created to tabulate US Census • Used electricity • Information punched into cards • Metal pins open and closed electrical circuits Electronic Tabulating Machine • Population: 63 million; 6 weeks • Founding product of International Business Machines (IBM)

  10. Electro-mechanical Age (1840 – 1940) • IBM + Harvard under leadership of Howard Aiken (1930s) • Storage: Mechanical relay telephone switches • Input: Punch Cards • Output • No decision making 51 feet in length 5 tons 750, 000 parts Mark I What is the difference between a calculator and a computer?

  11. The First Computer Bug • Grace Hopper (1909 – 1992) • One of first programmers of Mark I • Developed first compiler

  12. Electronic Age (1840 – Today) Electronic Numerical Integration and Calculator (ENIAC) • John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert (finished 1946) • Initially secret military project begun during WWII • University of Pennsylvania

  13. Electronic Age (1840 – Today) • Occupied 1500 square feet • Weighed 30 tons • Used vacuum tubes • >17,000 • Able to make decisions: first true computer • Programming involved wiring and switch flipping ENIAC

  14. Electronic Age (1840 – Today) • John von Neumann (1940s) • Storing computer instructions in a central processing unit (CPU) • No longer necessary to flip switches or rewire • Large Corporations, US Government Stored Program Computer • Processing Model: • Input data • Store data while being processed • Process data according to specific instructions • Output the results in the form of new data

  15. Electronic Innovations • Vacuum tubes • Large and expensive • UNIVAC: 35 tons • 1000 calculations per second • Transistor: semiconductor used as an amplifier or electronically controlled switch • Reduced size • 10,000 claculations per second • IBM model 650 (1960s) • Magnetic tape replaced punched cards

  16. Electronic Innovations • Integrated Circuits • Replacement of transistors with integrated circuits or chips • Silicon blocks with logic circuits etched onto surface • Millions of calculations per second • IBM System 360 was one of the first computers to use integrative circuits • Hospitals and Universities could now own computers

  17. Modern Computers • 1951 – 1958: Vacuum tubes (First Generation) • 1959 – 1964: Transistors (Second Gen) • 1965 – 1970: Integrated Circuits (Third Gen) • 1970 + : Large Scale Chips and Microprocessors (Fourth Gen)

  18. Modern Computers • Microprocessor: a CPU an a single chip • Designed in 1970 by Marcian Hoff (Intel Corporation) • Microcomputer: a desktop size computer • ALTAIR (1975) • Apple (Stephen Wozniak and Steven Jobs; 1977)

  19. The State of Modern Computing • Computing power doubles every 18-24 months From the BBC

  20. Hardware (Computer Architecture) • Input Devices • Memory • Central Processing Unit • Output Devices Input Memory Output CPU

  21. Memory • Read Only Memory (ROM) • Most basic operating instructions • Permanent • Random Access Memory (RAM) • Main memory • Data and instructions are temporarily stored • Registers • Temporary memory locations within the CPU • Auxiliary Memory

  22. CPU • Directs all activities of the computer • All information flows through the CPU • “Brain” • Only executes tasks according to instructions it has been given • Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) • Adds • Compares

  23. Software • Computer programs • Interface between computer and user • Disk Operating System (DOS) • MS-DOS, Windows, Linux, UNIX • Graphical User Interface (GUI)

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