If world is the heart then computers are the heartbeat of it. We all are aware of the fact that it is the device which makes the exchange of information possible at the global level. It is the device which can be found everywhere, in offices, schools, hospitals, railways etc. it is the fact that till now there is not a single invention done which made such influence on the humanity.
Invention of computers was the turning point in the advancement of technology. The invention of computer is not related to just one person; it is led by many scientists working independently in different countries. The ideas to create a computing device like computer were developed, in 1930s and 1940s, in the genius minds of the scientists of USA, Britain and Germany. Now the question arises, who invented the computers? Well, the answer is straight and simple; it is the contribution of various inventions which led to the discovery of computers. Actually the question should be who were the inventors of computers? In this article I am explaining how the contribution of various scientists in the invention of a computing device gives us this wonder device, computer.
- Charles Babbage- he was the English Mathematician. He designed the first mechanical computing machine which was called by him as the “Analytical Engine”. It was the programmable device which can store, process and retrieve data very well. For this reason only it is also considered as a forerunner of digital computers.
- Konrad Zuse- He was from Germany. When he was young, he was dealing with the problems of statistics, he hit upon an idea of creating a program based calculating machine. In the year 1935, he started working on a program controlled calculating machine. He started his work at his parent’s home, in Berlin. His design was based on the binary system usage and he used punched tapes for the input of programs. In between 1936 and 1938, he built a fully mechanical machine named as Z1. It was fully operational. In 1940, he started building the successor of Z1 which was named as Z2. It was based on the relay technology. Then he came up with the Z3 which was the first freely programmable automatic calculator.
- Dr. Howard Aiken- Simultaneously, many developments were in progress in USA. In the year 1937, Dr. Howard Aiken of Harvard University came up with a concept which was used by IBM to build a program controlled relay calculator in the year 1939. This machine was used on production work by 1944. This was nicknamed as MARK I. this was automatic calculator which can control sequences.
- Dr. John Atansoff and Clifford Berry- Clifford Berry was the assistant of John Atansoff. In 1945, they came out with the ‘Atansoff-Berry Computer’ or abbreviated as ABC at Lowa State University. It was named after the name of its inventors. This machine was capable of solving some mathematical problems. 45 vacuums were used for the internal logic.
- Prof. J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly- the relay computers by Aiken and Stibitz were not the actual decisive for the development of the universal computers. It was the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) which becomes the first modern electronic computer. It was developed in the year 1948 by a design team which was led by Prof. J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly at the Moore School of Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A. the work actually began on May 13, 1943 with the help from U.S. army in finds. Several program runs were demonstrated successfully in Feburary, 1946.
At the same time, Model I to Model VI were developed in the Bell laboratories in New York. These were the Relay calculators. These were designed on the suggestion of George R. Stibitz. In 1944, an influential mathematician, John von Neumann paid attention to ENIAC. The major problems with the ENIAC were that its memory was very small and it takes hour or even days to program the ENIAC. After these problems many meetings were held and in a meeting with von Neumann the thought of a universal stored-program machine was evolved. It was suggested that the memory should be used so as to store the program in addition to data. The concept of the modern computers was born.
- Von Neumann given the “First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC” (Electronic Discrete Variable Computer) in springs of 1944. The stored program universal computer was described in this draft. The logical structure which was explained in this draft was referred as von Neumann Architecture. In the 1940s and 1950s the report becomes the “bible” for the pioneers of computer worldwide. Originally the report was made for the internal use only.
The computers based on the von Neumann Architecture were build in Britain for the first type instead of USA. These were as follows-
- Frederic C. Williams of the University of Manchester was successfully run the prototype of Manchester Mark I on June 21, 1948 and proved that a program stored universal computer can be built.
- Maurice Wilkes at Cambridge University build a machine named EDSAC which was the first really functional von Neumann computer. Its first program was run on May 6, 1949, which can compute a table of square numbers.
The effort of these above scientists gives us this masterpiece which can speak, listen and act too. The researches and practices are going to make the computers more advanced. I don’t think any further technology can replace our computers. Yes, it is possible that the computers become so advanced that they may replace humans at there workplaces completely. Well, this can be already seen.
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