Computers have been around for some time now, but how long? They're such a large and integral part of our lives now that we would probably be lost without them. The flip side being that they develop their own consciousness and kill us in our sleep.
Probably one of the oldest 'computers' is the ancient greek treasure 'The Anthikythera Mechanism'
Not a computer you say? Not the conventional thing that pops to mind perhaps, but consider the fact that all a computer means is; 'an electronic device which is capable of receiving information (data) in a particular form and of performing a sequence of operations in accordance with a predetermined but variable set of procedural instructions (program) to produce a result in form of information or signals'
Now, let's think for a second about this machine and it's incredible advancement for its time. This sophisticated device predicted solar and lunar eclipses. Its clockwork was identified as resembling the 'Sphere of Archimedes'. Archimedes was a mathematician and engineer.
'The Greeks used their mathematics, especially geometry, to simulate agronomical phenomena, creating an accurate model through the use of gears.'
I think this is quite frankly astonishing, that something this sophisticated was created so long ago, which essentially isn't all that different from the fundamental ideals of our modern computers, in the sense that they use pre-programmed calculations to produce accurate results and conclusions.
Jumping forward to 1821, British Mathematician, Charles Babbage creates his calculating engines, to improve accuracy in mathematics and reduce mistakes made due to human error. He created the Difference Engine, which is the first machine to correctly automate mathematic calculation.
In 1834, Babbage worked on another calculating machine called the Analytical Engine, which was designed to 'analyse various types of problems based on instructions received from punch cards and could store results for future use.' These two incredible feats by Babbage echo a lot of the main thing electrical computers are used for. The difference mainly being Babbage's were operated by cranks. Essentially though.. they all share the common purpose of calculating and performing based on pre-programmed instructions.
During World War 2, technology moved incredibly fast. Each side would be battling desperately against the enemy, all trying to develop new ways to gain information and intelligence on their opponent, instruct and direct their troops and overall bring victory to their side. Due to this I think war is probably one of the huge influences that accelerate technological development, because each side is desperate to put themselves ahead as much as possible.
In 1936, Konrad Zuse designed and built Z1. It had limited programibility and all of its programming comprised of instructions taken from punched tape. The Z1 was the first freely programmable computer which contained all of the major parts of a modern computer, such as a control unit, memory, input/output etc. It was destroyed by the allied forces during WW2. The Z2 and Z3 followed this, many of their ideas based on Z1.
After 1939, Konrad Zuse was given resources by the Nazi government. For this reason, his work was only really noticed by Germany, and never came to the attention of the US and the UK.
-Sidenote!- Konrad Zuse was an artist too! Take a look at some of his work!
Anyway, in 1941, Konrad Zuse finished the Z3 computer, which was essentially the same idea as Z1, in that it was a fully working, programmable, automatic digital computer, with the program code and data stored punched on film. Sadly, the original of this awesome machine was destroyed in a bombing raid in 1943. It has been reconstructed though!
Meanwhile... in the UK, we were developing our own machinery, unbeknownst to the Germans! In 1941, the Bombe was created by Alan Turing and refined by Gordon Welchman, based on the Polish 'Bomba' which was created to tap into German 'Enigma' machines. The Bombe was used to help decipher encrypted messages the Germans were using during World War 2.
Jump to 1943 and the US launch Project Whirlwind. The initial idea of this was to create a flight simulator to train bomber crews. This was first built on a large analog computer, but this was found to be inaccurate and inflexible. The idea was transferred to a digital computer, but by the time this was finished it was 1951, the war was over and this was no longer useful.
Jump forward again, to 1944 - the first colossus is operational at Bletchley Park.
The Colossus was used against the German teleprinter 'Tunny'. More sophisticated than the Enigma machines, the Germans relied on Tunny to encrypt their communications with German posts across Europe. In 1941, Colossus intercepted its first Tunny message. After a year, the messages were decrypted and they obtained invaluable intelligence, saving countless amounts of lives.
References
- www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/computer
- VALLIANTOS,EVAGGELOS (2012) Deciphering and Appeasing the Heavens: The History and Fate of an Ancient Greek Computer. 45(3) p.251-257
- MATHER, DAVID (2006) Extended Memory: Early Calculating Engines and Historical Computer Simulations. 39(3) p236-243
- inventors.about.com/library/blcoindex.htm
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z1_(computer)
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History-of-computer-science
- www.computerhistory.org/timeline/?category=cmptr
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z3_(computer)
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombe
- ww.colossus-computer.com/colossus1.html
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