Before the age of information and technology, our ancestors were forced to crunch numbers with nothing but the mental capacity they possessed. Due to the lack of tools to assist the general public, mathematical computations could only be solved by top-notch mathematicians and scientists of the time. Fortunately, inventions such as the abacus and the integration of slide rules began to make their way into society and introduced society to a wider array of mathematical processes. Technological advances continued through the course of history, and in 1936, Alan Turing invented a machine which formalized the concepts derived from algorithms and other computations. Turing was the first to create a device which was able to adapt and stimulate the logic of any computer algorithm. Unfortunately, the “Turing Machine” proved unable to solve the decision problems in mathematics and algorithms but is still credited as the foundation of modern computer science as it provided society with a blueprint for the very first digital computer.1 This “blueprint” paved the way for one German engineer to successfully invent a machine which went on to revolutionize computer science in modern day society.
Minor advancements, such as various binary computing devices, were made throughout the computer science community until one lone engineer created an instrument which would propel society into a technological age. Konrad Zuse entered isolation in 1936 to begin construction on a series of calculators. Zuse emerged from his laboratory in 1938 and introduced the world to a concept which continues to stand as a cornerstone to computer engineers in modern society. Zuse’s first computer, dubbed Z1, was a revolutionary device for the society at the time. Zuse’s mechanism may have outshined all other calculators at the time, but his contraption was purely mechanical and failed to be reliable. After the initial failure of his debut creation, Zuse began to formulate a device which avidly broke down all previous barriers in the computer science community. His next machine, the Z3, computed fixed sequences of arithmetical operations coded in a punched tape.2 Due to the Z3’s ability to read any sequence of instructions from the user, Zuse’s brainchild had become the world’s first free programmable automatic calculator.3 During the time of the Z3, Zuse also began developing Plankalkül, the first high-level programming language for a computer. The Plankalkül system relied on a two-dimensional layout that did not stay consistent with normal parsers and this, along with other inconsistencies, was the reason it was not adopted and implemented.4 Zuse’s paper on Plankalkül remained unpublished until the language was more refined, and was published in 1948. The successes of the Z3 and Plankalkül propelled Zuse into fame and he was quickly solidified a spot in history as an essential pioneer in the computer science community. Zuse’s calculator continued to rein as the only general purpose computer and the work of two Americans, whose ideas completely reinvented the computer, remained unnoticed.
During the time of Zuse’s construction on his series of calculators, a professor and graduate student began development on the first electronic digital computing device. During the construction phase, Professor John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry integrated binary arithmetic and electronic switching elements into their device. The Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) was successful tested in 1942, but it was not certified as a programmable computer. Although the ABC was never a programmable computer, Atanasoff and Berry were the first to: incorporate vacuum tubes into a computer, implement elements of using binary digits to represent numbers and data, use electronics in all calculations, and create a system where memory and computation remain separate. These implementations have been regarded as the building blocks of computers and still remain part of every modern computer. Development on the computer ceased before it was registered as fully operational though, and the ABC remained a mystery until a dispute arose after a physicist and engineer patented the first digital computing device.
John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert began development on a device to calculate artillery firing tables for the U.S. Army during World War Two.5 The final product was revealed in 1946 and the Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC) became a landmark in computer engineering history. The ENIAC adopted the vacuum tube technology from the ABC and built upon its limited solving systems. The ENIAC was an improvement on the ABC, but was constantly plagued with problems and failures. ENIAC demanded 174 K.W. of power to run the 17,468 tubes, which were prone to failure about every two days. In addition: the average error free run period was 5.6 hours, it weighed over thirty tons, and occupied over 1,800 square feet.6 The ENIAC’s programming language incorporated setting program switches on the units so if the units were stimulated by the input pulse of a program, the controls for said program would cause the units to carry out a specific set of operations.7 After being granted a patent in 1964, the ENIAC was credited as the first electronic digital computing device. This patent was later voided in 1973 when a federal judge recognized Atanasoff as the inventor of the first electronic digital computer. Although the ENIAC will never be the first electronic digital computer, it still remains as the first programmable, general-purpose electronic computer. Developers of the ENIAC came to recognize the many problems created by the machine and proceeded to begin rethinking the engineering of computing devices as a whole. This new design was conceived by one singular mathematician and created an opening for many computer engineering breakthroughs.
John von Neumann first introduced his design architecture to the public with a paper in 1945. Neumann called for a design which would hold subdivisions for each part of the computer, an external storage for memory, and input/output mechanisms.8 Construction on prototypes began all over the world and the first genuine application of Neumann’s design was demonstrated by the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) in 1948. This machine was not intended to be a practical computer, but still holds the title for the first working machine to incorporate all the essential elements of a modern day computer.9 The first practical implementation of Neumann’s stored program design was produced a year later at Cambridge University. The Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) was constructed by Maurice Wilkes and his team after Wilkes became inspired by Neumann’s paper. The EDSAC programming software required users to punch in their programs onto a paper tape and users prepared their programs for the EDSAC by hanging the tape from a length of line by the paper tape reader. Machine operators then loaded the queued tapes into the EDSAC after the tapes that were previously in line had been printed out and returned to the user.10 The EDSAC was immediately devoted for research work at Cambridge University and the Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC) surfaced one year after the EDSAC. EDVAC seemed to resemble a more condensed version of ENIAC and proved to be the machine Neumann attempted to convey in his paper from four years prior. The EDVAC’s ability to compute at around the same rate as ENIAC while only being a fraction of the size led the EDVAC to be the most reliable and productive computer during its time.
Vacuum tube based computers monopolized the electronics industry through the 1950s and a variety of programming languages began to be designed. The three major programming languages: FORTRAN, LISP, and COBOL all emerged in the 1950s and are their descendants are still utilized in today’s society. The vacuum tubes in the computers forced the computer to be quite large. The announcement of transistor-based machines was preferable because they were cheaper, faster, smaller, and more reliable. The transistor’s ability to amplify electronic signals as well as switch electronic signals on and off depleted the need for vacuum tubes. It was through experimentation of the transistor technology and integrated circuits that led to one of the most influential technologies in modern day society; the microprocessor.
Microprocessors contain all the functions of a computer’s central processing unit (CPU) all onto one single integrated circuit.11 The first microprocessor, the Intel 4004, was designed by Jederico Faggin, Ted Hoff, and Masatoshi Shima. The 4-bit CPU was released in 1971 and was capable of approximately 92,000 instructions per second (1 MHz).12 The Intel 4004 was succeeded by the Intel 8008, but neither the 4004 or the 8008 microprocessors had the ability to run a programming language. It was Intel’s 8080 chip in 1974 which finally allowed users to run a programming language. The 8080 was utilized in early microcomputers and helped formed the basis for machines running on the CP/M operating system. In 1978, Intel launched x86 and once again revolutionized not just the computer science community, but society as a whole. A large amount of modern day software and operating systems still support the 30 year old x86-based hardware. Over the past 40 years, the improvements in microprocessors have increased from a 4-bit CPU with 1 MHz of processing speed to a 64-bit CPU with 2667 MHz of processing speed.13
The increased processing speed let to the ability to produce more user friendly operating systems. Operating systems were around in the 1950s, but it was difficult for the general public to decipher. After the integration of monitors and disks, computers were able to portray a screen with which the user would interact. The rapid advancements in computer science have helped aid society in a multitude of instances. Many medical breakthroughs are made possible because of the computer technology we obtain. The advances in computers have also created opportunities for people to stay more easily connected with family and friends with social networking sites. Without the technology and information we receive from computers, our society would not be in the same place it is today.
Works Cited
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2 Rojas, R., "How to make Zuse's Z3 a universal computer," Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE , vol.20, no.3, pp.51-54, Jul-Sep 1998. doi: 10.1109/85.707574
3 Aspray, William. "Great Computing Museums of the World, Part Two." Communications of the ACM 53.5 (2010): 45-49. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Sept. 2011.
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6 Martin H. Weik. “A Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems.” Dec. 1955. Web. 19 Sept. 2011.
7 Clippinger, R. F. A Logical Coding System Applied to the ENIAC. Research and Development Division: Aberdeen Proving Ground, 1948. Web. 19 Sept. 2011.
8 Richards, Martin. “EDSAC Initial Orders and Squares Program.” Web. 19 Sept. 2011.
9 von Neumann, J., "First draft of a report on the EDVAC," Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE , vol.15, no.4, pp.27-75, 1993. doi: 10.1109/85.238389
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11 Osborne, Adam. An introduction to microcomputers. September 1978 revision. Berkeley: Adam Osborne & Associates, 1978. Print.
12 Gilder, George. Microcosm : the quantum revolution in economics and technology. New York NY: Simon and Schuster, 1990. Print.
13 Ralph, Nate. “When Four Cores Aren’t Enough: Intel’s Core i7-980X Extreme Edition | PCWorld.” PC World. 10 Mar. 2010. Web. 19 Sept. 2011.
