Intro to Computers Where did they come from? Part 1 - Pre-1940s Define Computer Man vs. Machine Define Computer 1600’s Definition: -Someone who makes calculations. Late 1800’s Definition: -A machine that makes calculations. Modern Definition: -An electronic device used for storing and processing data Lets go back to the beginning! Computers exist because of math. One of the earliest “calculators” is called the Abacus. -Been around for 1000s of years Online Abacus https://www.online-calculator.com/full-screen-abacus/ The Next Big Step! Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz invented the Stepped Reckoner in 1672. Stepped Reckoner -Made calculations using a gear mechanism called the Leibniz Wheel. -The first machine that could add, subtract, multiply, and divide Leibniz Wheel -or stepped drum is a cylinder with a set of teeth of incremental lengths -Was used for over 200 years in calculating Machines. -Even into the 1970s And then came this guy... Charles Babbage -Babbage saw a better way of crunching numbers -In 1823 he began construction on the Difference Engine -A machine able to do complex calculations and output tables of numbers. Difference Engine -Babbage used a loan from the British government to make the Difference Engine -Due to the inability to make precise metal parts for cheap, Babbage never fully constructed the Difference Engine and the project was abandoned. -In 2000, a Difference Engine was fully built to celebrate Babbage’s 200th birthday. The machine actually worked! This settled the debate on whether his idea would really operate. Difference Engine Analytical Engine -While attempting to construct the Difference Engine, Babbage designed an even more complex machine called the Analytical Engine -This machine was never built, but was the first design of a machine that had memory and could be programmed, thus, making it the first computer as we think of them today. -The design of the Analytical Engine would be the springboard for modern day computing, making Babbage known as the Father of Computers Up to this point... - These calculating machines were all mechanical (no electricity) - Were mainly used for science - You did not see these machines used in business or personal life 1890 Census -The US constitution requires that a census be taken every 10 years -Problem! The 1880 census took 7 years to complete!! -It was predicted that the 1890 census would take 13 years! Why? -There had been a rapid growth in the population, mainly due to immigration -The US government was going to have to spend a lot of money for the 1890 census Enter...Herman Hollerith -An American inventor born in 1860 -He solved the government’s 1890 census problem by inventing an electromechanical tabulating machine that used punch cards. Hollerith’s Tabulating Machine -Used punch cards -The card was inserted into the reader. Pins would pass through the punched out holes and touch a vial of mercury completing an electrical circuit. -Each time a circuit was completed it advanced its corresponding gauge 1 spot. Hollerith...cont’d -Hollerith’s machines sped the census up greatly and became very popular! -Hollerith founded the Tabulating Machine Company in 1896. -This company joined 3 other companies in 1911 to form the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company -In 1924 this company changed its name to International Business Machines or... .