INDEX (References Are to Item Numbers)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
History of Computer Science from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
History of computer science From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The history of computer science began long before the modern discipline of computer science that emerged in the 20th century, and hinted at in the centuries prior. The progression, from mechanical inventions and mathematical theories towards the modern concepts and machines, formed a major academic field and the basis of a massive worldwide industry.[1] Contents 1 Early history 1.1 Binary logic 1.2 Birth of computer 2 Emergence of a discipline 2.1 Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace 2.2 Alan Turing and the Turing Machine 2.3 Shannon and information theory 2.4 Wiener and cybernetics 2.5 John von Neumann and the von Neumann architecture 3 See also 4 Notes 5 Sources 6 Further reading 7 External links Early history The earliest known as tool for use in computation was the abacus, developed in period 2700–2300 BCE in Sumer . The Sumerians' abacus consisted of a table of successive columns which delimited the successive orders of magnitude of their sexagesimal number system.[2] Its original style of usage was by lines drawn in sand with pebbles . Abaci of a more modern design are still used as calculation tools today.[3] The Antikythera mechanism is believed to be the earliest known mechanical analog computer.[4] It was designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was discovered in 1901 in the Antikythera wreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, between Kythera and Crete, and has been dated to c. 100 BCE. Technological artifacts of similar complexity did not reappear until the 14th century, when mechanical astronomical clocks appeared in Europe.[5] Mechanical analog computing devices appeared a thousand years later in the medieval Islamic world. -
Milestones in Analog and Digital Computing
Milestones in Analog and Digital Computing Contributions to the History of Mathematics and Information Technology by Herbert Bruderer Numerous recent discoveries of rare historical analog and digital calculators and previously unknown texts, drawings, and pictures from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and France. Worldwide, multilingual bibliography regarding the history of computer science with over 3000 entries. 12 step-by-step set of instructions for the operation of historical analog and digital calculating devices. 75 comparative overviews in tabular form. 200 illustrations. 20 comprehensive lists. 7 timelines of computer history. Published by de Gruyter Oldenbourg. Berlin/Boston 2015, xxxii, 820 pages, 119.95 Euro. During the 1970's mechanical calculating instruments and machines suddenly disappeared from the scene. They were replaced by electronic versions. Most of these devices developed since the 17th century – often very clever constructions – have been forgotten. Who can imagine today how difficult calculation was only a few decades ago? This book introduces the reader to selected milestones from prehistory and early history of computing. The Antikythera Mechanism This puzzling device was made around 200 BC. It was discovered around 1900 by divers off the Greek island of Antikythera. It is believed to be the oldest known analog (or rather hybrid) computing device. Numerous replicas have been built to unravel the mysteries of this calendar calculator. It is suspected that the machine came from the school of Archimedes. 1 Androids, Music Boxes, Chess Automatons, Looms This treatise also explores topics related to computing technology: automated human and animal figures, mecha- nized musical instruments, music boxes, as well as punched tape controlled looms and typewriters. -
Alan Turingturing –– Computercomputer Designerdesigner
AlanAlan TuringTuring –– ComputerComputer DesignerDesigner Brian E. Carpenter with input from Robert W. Doran The University of Auckland May 2012 Turing, the theoretician ● Turing is widely regarded as a pure mathematician. After all, he was a B-star Wrangler (in the same year as Maurice Wilkes) ● “It is possible to invent a single machine which can be used to compute any computable sequence. If this machine U is supplied with the tape on the beginning of which is written the string of quintuples separated by semicolons of some computing machine M, then U will compute the same sequence as M.” (1937) ● So how was he able to write Proposals for development in the Mathematics Division of an Automatic Computing Engine (ACE) by the end of 1945? 2 Let’s read that carefully ● “It is possible to inventinvent a single machinemachine which can be used to compute any computable sequence. If this machinemachine U is supplied with the tapetape on the beginning of which is writtenwritten the string of quintuples separated by semicolons of some computing machinemachine M, then U will compute the same sequence as M.” ● The founding statement of computability theory was written in entirely physical terms. 3 What would it take? ● A tape on which you can write, read and erase symbols. ● Poulsen demonstrated magnetic wire recording in 1898. ● A way of storing symbols and performing simple logic. ● Eccles & Jordan patented the multivibrator trigger circuit (flip- flop) in 1919. ● Rossi invented the coincidence circuit (AND gate) in 1930. ● Building U in 1937 would have been only slightly more bizarre than building a differential analyser with Meccano. -
Die Gruncllehren Cler Mathematischen Wissenschaften
Die Gruncllehren cler mathematischen Wissenschaften in Einzeldarstellungen mit besonderer Beriicksichtigung der Anwendungsgebiete Band 135 Herausgegeben von J. L. Doob . E. Heinz· F. Hirzebruch . E. Hopf . H. Hopf W. Maak . S. Mac Lane • W. Magnus. D. Mumford M. M. Postnikov . F. K. Schmidt· D. S. Scott· K. Stein Geschiiftsfiihrende Herausgeber B. Eckmann und B. L. van der Waerden Handbook for Automatic Computation Edited by F. L. Bauer· A. S. Householder· F. W. J. Olver H. Rutishauser . K. Samelson· E. Stiefel Volume I . Part a Heinz Rutishauser Description of ALGOL 60 Springer-Verlag New York Inc. 1967 Prof. Dr. H. Rutishauser Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule Zurich Geschaftsfuhrende Herausgeber: Prof. Dr. B. Eckmann Eidgenossische Tecbnische Hocbscbule Zurich Prof. Dr. B. L. van der Waerden Matbematisches Institut der Universitat ZUrich Aile Rechte, insbesondere das der Obersetzung in fremde Spracben, vorbebalten Ohne ausdriickliche Genehmigung des Verlages ist es auch nicht gestattet, dieses Buch oder Teile daraus auf photomechaniscbem Wege (Photokopie, Mikrokopie) oder auf andere Art zu vervielfaltigen ISBN-13: 978-3-642-86936-5 e-ISBN-13: 978-3-642-86934-1 DOl: 10.1007/978-3-642-86934-1 © by Springer-Verlag Berlin· Heidelberg 1967 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1%7 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 67-13537 Titel-Nr. 5l1B Preface Automatic computing has undergone drastic changes since the pioneering days of the early Fifties, one of the most obvious being that today the majority of computer programs are no longer written in machine code but in some programming language like FORTRAN or ALGOL. However, as desirable as the time-saving achieved in this way may be, still a high proportion of the preparatory work must be attributed to activities such as error estimates, stability investigations and the like, and for these no programming aid whatsoever can be of help. -
Alan Turing's Automatic Computing Engine
5 Turing and the computer B. Jack Copeland and Diane Proudfoot The Turing machine In his first major publication, ‘On computable numbers, with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem’ (1936), Turing introduced his abstract Turing machines.1 (Turing referred to these simply as ‘computing machines’— the American logician Alonzo Church dubbed them ‘Turing machines’.2) ‘On Computable Numbers’ pioneered the idea essential to the modern computer—the concept of controlling a computing machine’s operations by means of a program of coded instructions stored in the machine’s memory. This work had a profound influence on the development in the 1940s of the electronic stored-program digital computer—an influence often neglected or denied by historians of the computer. A Turing machine is an abstract conceptual model. It consists of a scanner and a limitless memory-tape. The tape is divided into squares, each of which may be blank or may bear a single symbol (‘0’or‘1’, for example, or some other symbol taken from a finite alphabet). The scanner moves back and forth through the memory, examining one square at a time (the ‘scanned square’). It reads the symbols on the tape and writes further symbols. The tape is both the memory and the vehicle for input and output. The tape may also contain a program of instructions. (Although the tape itself is limitless—Turing’s aim was to show that there are tasks that Turing machines cannot perform, even given unlimited working memory and unlimited time—any input inscribed on the tape must consist of a finite number of symbols.) A Turing machine has a small repertoire of basic operations: move left one square, move right one square, print, and change state. -
P the Pioneers and Their Computers
The Videotape Sources: The Pioneers and their Computers • Lectures at The Compp,uter Museum, Marlboro, MA, September 1979-1983 • Goal: Capture data at the source • The first 4: Atanasoff (ABC), Zuse, Hopper (IBM/Harvard), Grosch (IBM), Stibitz (BTL) • Flowers (Colossus) • ENIAC: Eckert, Mauchley, Burks • Wilkes (EDSAC … LEO), Edwards (Manchester), Wilkinson (NPL ACE), Huskey (SWAC), Rajchman (IAS), Forrester (MIT) What did it feel like then? • What were th e comput ers? • Why did their inventors build them? • What materials (technology) did they build from? • What were their speed and memory size specs? • How did they work? • How were they used or programmed? • What were they used for? • What did each contribute to future computing? • What were the by-products? and alumni/ae? The “classic” five boxes of a stored ppgrogram dig ital comp uter Memory M Central Input Output Control I O CC Central Arithmetic CA How was programming done before programming languages and O/Ss? • ENIAC was programmed by routing control pulse cables f ormi ng th e “ program count er” • Clippinger and von Neumann made “function codes” for the tables of ENIAC • Kilburn at Manchester ran the first 17 word program • Wilkes, Wheeler, and Gill wrote the first book on programmiidbBbbIiSiing, reprinted by Babbage Institute Series • Parallel versus Serial • Pre-programming languages and operating systems • Big idea: compatibility for program investment – EDSAC was transferred to Leo – The IAS Computers built at Universities Time Line of First Computers Year 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 ••••• BTL ---------o o o o Zuse ----------------o Atanasoff ------------------o IBM ASCC,SSEC ------------o-----------o >CPC ENIAC ?--------------o EDVAC s------------------o UNIVAC I IAS --?s------------o Colossus -------?---?----o Manchester ?--------o ?>Ferranti EDSAC ?-----------o ?>Leo ACE ?--------------o ?>DEUCE Whirl wi nd SEAC & SWAC ENIAC Project Time Line & Descendants IBM 701, Philco S2000, ERA.. -
Oral History Interview with David J. Wheeler
An Interview with DAVID J. WHEELER OH 132 Conducted by William Aspray on 14 May 1987 Princeton, NJ Charles Babbage Institute The Center for the History of Information Processing University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Copyright, Charles Babbage Institute 1 David J. Wheeler Interview 14 May 1987 Abstract Wheeler, who was a research student at the University Mathematical Laboratory at Cambridge from 1948-51, begins with a discussion of the EDSAC project during his tenure. He compares the research orientation and the programming methods at Cambridge with those at the Institute for Advanced Study. He points out that, while the Cambridge group was motivated to process many smaller projects from the larger university community, the Institute was involved with a smaller number of larger projects. Wheeler mentions some of the projects that were run on the EDSAC, the user-oriented programming methods that developed at the laboratory, and the influence of the EDSAC model on the ILLIAC, the ORDVAC, and the IBM 701. He also discusses the weekly meetings held in conjunction with the National Physical Laboratory, the University of Birmingham, and the Telecommunications Research Establishment. These were attended by visitors from other British institutions as well as from the continent and the United States. Wheeler notes visits by Douglas Hartree (of Cavendish Laboratory), Nelson Blackman (of ONR), Peter Naur, Aad van Wijngarden, Arthur van der Poel, Friedrich L. Bauer, and Louis Couffignal. In the final part of the interview Wheeler discusses his visit to Illinois where he worked on the ILLIAC and taught from September 1951 to September 1953. 2 DAVID J. -
The Education Column
The Education Column by Juraj Hromkovicˇ Department of Computer Science ETH Zürich Universitätstrasse 6, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland [email protected] Informatics –New Basic Subject Walter Gander Department of Computer Science ETH Zürich [email protected] Abstract Informatics, as Computer Science is called in Europe, has become a leading science. It is high time that it be adopted as a basic subject in schools like mathematics or physics. We discuss in this article some recent develop- ments in Europe concerning informatics in schools. 1 Computers have been invented for computing! The first computers were calculating machines designed to solve engineering problems faster and with fewer errors. Consider for instance two typical repre- sentatives of computer pioneers: 1. Howard Aiken (1900-1973), a physicist, who encountered a system of dif- ferential equations during his PhD studies in 1939 which could not be solved analytically. He therefore needed to compute a numerical approximation, a tedious work by hand calculations. He envisioned an electro-mechanical computing device that could do much of the tedious work for him. This computer was originally called the ASCC (Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator) and later renamed Harvard Mark I. With engineering, construction, and funding from IBM, the machine was completed and installed at Harvard in February, 1944.1 2. Konrad Zuse (1910-1995), civil engineer, had to solve linear equations for static calculations. This tedious calculations motivated him to think about constructing a machine to do this work. Unlike Aiken he did not look for a sponsor but installed 1936 a workshop for constructing a computer in the living room of his parents! [8] 1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_H._Aiken His greatest achievement was the world’s first programmable computer; the functional program-controlled Turing-complete Z3 became operational in May 1941. -
A Conversation with Peter Huber 3
Statistical Science 2008, Vol. 23, No. 1, 120–135 DOI: 10.1214/07-STS251 c Institute of Mathematical Statistics, 2008 A Conversation with Peter Huber Andreas Buja and Hans R. K¨unsch Abstract. Peter J. Huber was born on March 25, 1934, in Wohlen, a small town in the Swiss countryside. He obtained a diploma in math- ematics in 1958 and a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1961, both from ETH Zurich. His thesis was in pure mathematics, but he then decided to go into statistics. He spent 1961–1963 as a postdoc at the statistics depart- ment in Berkeley where he wrote his first and most famous paper on robust statistics, “Robust Estimation of a Location Parameter.” After a position as a visiting professor at Cornell University, he became a full professor at ETH Zurich. He worked at ETH until 1978, interspersed by visiting positions at Cornell, Yale, Princeton and Harvard. After leav- ing ETH, he held professor positions at Harvard University 1978–1988, at MIT 1988–1992, and finally at the University of Bayreuth from 1992 until his retirement in 1999. He now lives in Klosters, a village in the Grisons in the Swiss Alps. Peter Huber has published four books and over 70 papers on statis- tics and data analysis. In addition, he has written more than a dozen papers and two books on Babylonian mathematics, astronomy and his- tory. In 1972, he delivered the Wald lectures. He is a fellow of the IMS, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. -
Alan Turing 1 Alan Turing
Alan Turing 1 Alan Turing Alan Turing Turing at the time of his election to Fellowship of the Royal Society. Born Alan Mathison Turing 23 June 1912 Maida Vale, London, England, United Kingdom Died 7 June 1954 (aged 41) Wilmslow, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom Residence United Kingdom Nationality British Fields Mathematics, Cryptanalysis, Computer science Institutions University of Cambridge Government Code and Cypher School National Physical Laboratory University of Manchester Alma mater King's College, Cambridge Princeton University Doctoral advisor Alonzo Church Doctoral students Robin Gandy Known for Halting problem Turing machine Cryptanalysis of the Enigma Automatic Computing Engine Turing Award Turing test Turing patterns Notable awards Officer of the Order of the British Empire Fellow of the Royal Society Alan Mathison Turing, OBE, FRS ( /ˈtjʊərɪŋ/ TEWR-ing; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954), was a British mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist. He was highly influential in the development of computer science, giving a formalisation of the concepts of "algorithm" and "computation" with the Turing machine, which can be considered a model of a general purpose computer.[1][2][3] Turing is widely considered to be the father of computer science and artificial intelligence.[4] During World War II, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park, Britain's codebreaking centre. For a time he was head of Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. He devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers, including the method of the bombe, an electromechanical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine. -
Alan Turing's Other Universal Machine
viewpoints VDOI:10.1145/2209249.2209277 Martin Campbell-Kelly Historical Reflections Alan Turing’s Other Universal Machine Reflections on the Turing ACE computer and its influence. LL COMPUTER SCIENTISTS know about the Univer- sal Turing Machine, the theoretical construct the British genius Alan Turing Adescribed in his famous 1936 paper on the Entscheidungsproblem (the halting problem). The Turing Machine is one of the foundation stones of theoreti- cal computer science. Much less well known is the practical stored program computer he proposed after the war in February 1946. The computer was called the ACE—Automatic Comput- ing Engine—a name intended to evoke the spirit of Charles Babbage, the pio- neer of computing machines in the previous century. Almost all post-war electronic com- puters were, and still are, based on the famous EDVAC Report written by John von Neumann in June 1945 on behalf The Pilot ACE, May 1950. Jim Wilkinson (center right) and Donald Davies (right). of the computer group at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the roles. Computers were in the air and of one, and over the next few months University of Pennsylvania. Von Neu- universities at Manchester, Cam- he evolved the design of the ACE. His mann was very familiar with Turing’s bridge, and elsewhere established report was formally presented to the 1936 Entscheidungsproblem paper. In electronic computer projects. Out- NPL’s executive committee in Febru- 1937, Turing was a research assistant side the academic sphere, in Lon- ary 1946. at the Institute for Advanced Study at don, the National Physical Laboratory Although the ACE drew heavily on Princeton University, where von Neu- (NPL—Britain’s equivalent of the Na- the EDVAC Report, it had many novel mann was a professor of mathematics. -
Konrad Zuse Und Die Eth Zürich }
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by RERO DOC Digital Library HAUPTBEITRAG / KONRAD ZUSE UND DIE ETH ZÜRICH } Konrad Zuse und die ETH Zürich Zum 100. Geburtstag des Informatikpioniers Konrad Zuse (22. Juni 2010) Herbert Bruderer1 Die Geschichte der Informatik beginnt mit dem seit IAS-Rechner, IBM 701, Univac u. a. und in Grossbri- dem Altertum benutzten Zählrahmen Abakus und tannien: z. B. ACE, Colossus, EDSAC, Ferranti Mark, der Entstehung der Zahlensysteme. Die heutigen Leo und SSEM. Zuses Pionierleistungen in der Re- Computer haben zahlreiche Vorläufer. Die ersten chentechnik und in der Informatik wurden sowohl funktionsfähigen programmierbaren Rechengeräte in Europa als auch in den USA lange Zeit verkannt. wurden jedoch erst gegen Mitte des 20. Jahrhun- Das deutsche Patentamt verweigerte ein Patent für derts vorgestellt. Der deutsche Bauingenieur Konrad die Z3. Zuse (22.6.1910–18.12.1995) ist einer der Väter dieser Universalmaschinen. Er baute in Berlin seit 1936 ETH Zürich mietet den legendären Rechenanlagen. Nur ein einziges Gerät, die 1945 fer- Relaisrechner Z4 tiggestellte Z4, überlebte den zweiten Weltkrieg. Der Mathematiker Eduard Stiefel (1909–1978) Zuse versuchte anschliessend erfolglos, in- und gründete Anfang Januar 1948 an der ETH Zürich ausländische Universitäten sowie Hersteller von Bü- das Institut für angewandte Mathematik. Daraus romaschinen für seine Entwicklungen zu gewinnen. entwickelte sich 1968 die Fachgruppe für Computer- Damals konnte sich offenbar niemand vorstellen, wissenschaften, und schliesslich entstand daraus dass ein programmgesteuertes Rechengerät einer das heutige Departement Informatik. Damit be- handelsüblichen Rechenmaschine überlegen war. ginnt die Geschichte der Informatik in der Schweiz.