The first computers were people! That is, electronic computers (and the earlier mechanical computers) were given this name because they performed the work that had previously been assigned to people. "Computer" was originally a job title: it was used to describe those human beings (predominantly women) whose job it was to perform the repetitive calculations required to compute such things as navigational tables, tide charts, and planetary positions for astronomical almanacs. Imagine you had a job where hour after hour, day after day, you were to do nothing but compute multiplications. Boredom would quickly set in, leading to carelessness, leading to mistakes. And even on your best days you wouldn't be producing answers very fast. Therefore, inventors have been searching for hundreds of years for a way to mechanize (that is, find a mechanism that can perform) this task.
Abacus!
The history of computers can be summarized by the saying, 'necessity is the mother of invention'. This means something is created to fill a need.Thousands of years ago, people needed a better way to do mathematical calculations, like addition and subtraction. So, they invented the abacus. An abacus was a wooden rack containing rows of beads. Calculations were made by moving beads on the rack to left or to the right. Abacuses are still in use today. In 17th century Pascal invented a mechanical calculator that used moving parts, such as gears, to add and subtract. It was the first machine to do what people had done using an abacus for centuries!
Abacus!
The history of computers can be summarized by the saying, 'necessity is the mother of invention'. This means something is created to fill a need.Thousands of years ago, people needed a better way to do mathematical calculations, like addition and subtraction. So, they invented the abacus. An abacus was a wooden rack containing rows of beads. Calculations were made by moving beads on the rack to left or to the right. Abacuses are still in use today. In 17th century Pascal invented a mechanical calculator that used moving parts, such as gears, to add and subtract. It was the first machine to do what people had done using an abacus for centuries!
The Mechanical Calculator Leads to a Mechanical Computer
The next major milestone in the history of the computer occurred in the 19th century. A man named Charles Babbage devised a calculating machine known as a 'calculation engine'. This was a very large and complicated device, with lots of rods and moving gears. It had four components: an input, a processor, memory, and an output. These four components are still a part of all computers today.
The next major milestone in the history of the computer occurred in the 19th century. A man named Charles Babbage devised a calculating machine known as a 'calculation engine'. This was a very large and complicated device, with lots of rods and moving gears. It had four components: an input, a processor, memory, and an output. These four components are still a part of all computers today.
First Modern Computers!
The ENIAC was invented by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania and began construction in 1943 and was not completed until 1946. It occupied about 1,800 square feet and used about 18,000 vacuum tubes, weighing almost 50 tons. Although the Judge ruled that the ABC computer was the first digital computer, many still consider the ENIAC to be the first digital computer because it was fully functional.
The ENIAC was invented by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania and began construction in 1943 and was not completed until 1946. It occupied about 1,800 square feet and used about 18,000 vacuum tubes, weighing almost 50 tons. Although the Judge ruled that the ABC computer was the first digital computer, many still consider the ENIAC to be the first digital computer because it was fully functional.
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