History of computer

Computer has its own history in its amplitude. Before 1600 centuries, Chinese people developed a kind of machine call ABACUS, which was made of rectangular wooden frame. It had horizontal rods with beads strung. Addition and subtractions were done by changing the position of the beads. It is still being used in Chine, Japan, India and Russian in the 5^th century. Hindu Brahmin developed the natural number 1,2,3…….. 9. Then Iraqi Mathematician Alkhwarismi developed "0", in the mid of 1600s. Japan Napier develop Napier Bones device. It could add, Subtract, divide and multiply the number.

1)   Abacus

It is the first counting and calculating device that was developed by the Chinese people. The Abacus was first used for computations in 3000 B.C. It was made of a wooden frame on which there were strings. The frame was divided into two parts heaven and earth, by a mid bar.

2)   Napier's Bone

John Napier Scottish Mathematician invented this device in 1614 AD. This device was used for multiplication and division. It consists of nine pieces of square cards; each divided vertically into nine squares. Each square again is divided diagonally from the right hand corner to the bottom left hand corner and in each card multiplication tables from 1 to 9 written. He placed ten above the diagonal of the square and unit below.

3)   The slide Rule

William Ought Red invented the Slide Tule in 1620. This device was based on the principle of Logarithms, which was developed by John Napier in 1614. Logarithm tables are still used in schools and collages to solve complicated mathematical calculations. There are three main parts of slider rule . 1. Body. 2. The slide with scales make on it, 3, their was very easy to used , results of the calculation were obtained just mobbing the slide along the body.

4)   Pascaline

French mathematician, Blaise Pascal developed Pascaline in 1642. Pascal's calculator was limited to performing only addition and subaction operation. This was the first practical calculating machine. This machine was very simple, about the size of a shoebox . It consisted of a train of number wheels . It position could be observed through the window in the cover of the box that enclosed the mechanism. The numbers were put in by means of a dial wheel. It utilized a mechanical gear system to add and subtract with as many as eight columns of digits. Multiplication could be performed by repeated addition and division by repeated subtraction.

5)   Difference Engine and Analytical Engine

Charles Babbage in 1822 AD invented a machine called Difference Engine with mechanical memory to store results. It was based on the difference tables of squares of the numbers. Due to which it got its name as difference Engine. After Analytical Engine was also developed by Charles Babbage in 1830s . It consisted of the input unit from taking data and instructions mill for performing calculation, memory (punched card) with a suitable output device that was used in gibing the final result. It was designed to calculate up to 20 decimal places. The same principle of Analytical Engine is used in the modern computer. So he is called as the "Father of Modern Computer Science". Using the principles of Charles Babbage, about 100 years later, Mark-I was developed by Howard Aiken in 1937.

6)   Lady Augusta Ada Lovelace

One of the great supporters of Charles Babbage was Lady Augusta Ada (the daughter of famous poet, Lord Byron). She convinced Babbage to used binary concept in his Analytical Engine. She wrote different types of programs that ware used in the Babbage machines. So she is remembered as the "First Programmer" in the history of computer science and has  to her credit a computer language called ADA name after her.

7)   Dr. Herman Hollerith

He was the first person to used punched card practically on his Census Tabulation Machine in 1880s. The information is stored as holes in cards, which are interpreter by machines with electrical sensors. The cards ware punched by a machine called Punched Card Machine or Hollerith's Tabulation Machine. Then he established Tabulating Machine company to sell his products. Later, when other companies marked with TMC, new company were established under the name international Business Machine \company and he became he founder of IBM. It is the worlds leading computer manufacturer.

8)   Mark-1 (Howard Aiken)

In the late 1930s, next important event was added in the history of computer. The electromechanical computer was born with the development of MARK-1 in 1944 by Howard Aiken with the help of IBM. It also used the punched cards designed for Difference Engine. It was  51 ft. long, 8 ft high and 13 ft wide. It used large number of valves , Switches and resistors. It was used to produce ballistics tables in 2^nd world war.

9)   Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC)

It is the  electronic computer that was developed by John Mouchlay and J.Priosper Eckert in 1947. It was based on the decimal number system. 18,000 vacuum tubes were used in ENIAc. There were 70,000 resistors, 10,000 condensers and 6,000 switches. It weighed 30 tones and occupied a space 3,000 cubic at that time and it  was based on decimal number.

10)Electronic Discrete variable Automatic Computer (EDVAC)

In 1949, the first electronic computer was developed by John Mauchly and John Presper Eckert with the help of A. Burks, Goldstine and Neumann. This machine was used to store the data and information as well as the instructions. This computer operated electronically.

11)UNIVAC-1 (Universal Accounting Computer)

John Mauchly and Eckert Founded their own company in 1946 and began to work on the universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC): general – purpose commercial computer in 1951 . It was the first commercially used electronic computer in the

world.