History of computers
The electronic computer has now been used commercially for less than 25 years. It grew out of a search lasting centuries for a more accurate, faster way to perform calculations. Primitive and ancient man used his fingers, shells, beads, sticks, and other objects to keep track of numbers and sums. The development of paper and writing instrumentsmade it easier to record data, but gave little aid in manipulating it. A computer is sometimes defined as a system that mechanizes the processing of information. Even a manual device may fall under this definition if they are constructed in such a way that moving them by hand can produce the desired answer. Example: The abacus is the oldest-known mechanical computing aid. Its origin is uncertain. Many countries claim to have invented it. It was used in China as early as the sixth century B.C. and in the mediterranean areain ancient Greek and Roman times. It is still used in many parts of the world. The abacus consists of beads strung on rows of wires suspended within a rectangular frame. A common form has a piece of wood dividing the beads, with five beads on one side, and two on the other side of the wood on ea
Dr. Vannevar Bush (1890- ) built a large-scale computer called a differential analyzer at the Massachusets Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1930. Unlike the Babbage machine, the Bush analyzer was analog. It mechanical torque-amplifiers to generate the power necessary to move long trains of mechanical gears. The principle is similar to that used on cargo hoists. All computers described so far used gears, wheels, switches, and relays that required mechanical motion. The great breakthrough in developing computers came in 1940s when electrtonic components were first succsessfully employed. Example:
Some common words found in the essay are:
IBM System/370, Third Generation, Sperry Rand, Computers Introduction, Greek Roman, Bell Laboratories, Blaise Pascal, Electromechanical Computers, Cardenal Richelieu, Unlike Babbage, punched card, third generation, atanasoff berry, dr john mauchly, automatic computer, virtual storage, john mauchly, university pennsylvania, storage access, fourth generation, magnetic core,
Approximate Word count = 1139
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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