A Brief History of Computing

All information in this booklet is from The Computer History Museum website
unless otherwise acknowledged. (http://www.computerhistory.org/)
Napier's Bones
c. 1!!
"cotland
#apiers $ones are portable single%digit multiplication tables that
can be arranged to show the product of multiplying almost any
multi%digit number by a single digit. &hile the tables were often
made of wood or paper' higher (uality sets were fashioned from
i)ory or bone' gi)ing the tables their name.
Although *ohn #apier in)ented them in the late 1+!!s' a
description of the ,bones- was only published at the end of his life'
in his book .abdologi/' because he was concerned that others
would take credit for his idea.
&hile #apier also disco)ered logarithms' the bones are unrelated
to that mathematical concept.
Sets of Napier's bones ready for use
Pascaline
101
2rance
3hilosopher and mathematician $laise 3ascal created
his first mechanical adder at age nineteen and
continued e4perimenting with its design for se)eral
years. 5is design used a system of weights. &hen
adding figures' turning the machines dials lifted a
weight which dropped again when the dial changed
from a ,6- to a ,!.- 7he action of the dropping
weight turned the ne4t wheel one position. 8ore
reliable calculating machines would ha)e to wait for
impro)ed manufacturing methods.
Blaise Pascal, 162!1662
1
9redit: :eu)res' $laise 3ascal' 1;;6' courtesy of <rwin 7omash
Pascaline "reproduction#
=oan of >wen and >ordon $ell' $1+!.?1
$eibni% Stepped &rum
1;0
>ermany
3hilosopher and mathematician >ottfried
&ilhelm =eibni@ in)ented a mechanical
calculator featuring a ,stepped drum-
mechanism in 1;0. .otating the drum
caused a small gear to interact with ! to 6
of the drums teeth. Aepending on the
gears position along the drum' the de)ice
would add )alues ranging from ! to 6 to a
result register. 7he de)ice was the first
mechanical calculator capable of
multiplication. $ecause of its reliability'
the stepped drum mechanism was
employed for o)er B!! years.
'ottfried (il)elm $eibni%, 16*6 !
1+16
9redit: <pistolae ad di)ersos' >. &. =eibni@' 1;B0' courtesy of <rwin 7omash
$eibni% stepped drum model, ,S,
1-./

1
C)arles Babbage
1;61 % 1?;1
<ngland
9harles $abbage was a brilliant scientist. Cn
response to the numerous errors contained in
mathematical tables' he de)eloped the ,Aifference
<ngine'- a mechanical de)ice that could perform
error%free calculation of polynomial functions. 5e
completed only a small model before the $ritish
go)ernment withdrew funding' forcing him to
abandon the proDect. "oon after' "wedish scientists
>eorg and <d)ard "cheut@ would complete a
working )ersion.
C)arles Babbage, c01.6/
9redit: "cience 8useum' =ondon
$abbage designed another de)ice to perform more comple4 calculations. 5is ,Analytical <ngine- was
similar to modern computers: instructions from punched cards controlled how the calculating element'
or ,mill'- manipulated numbers in the ,store.- 7he machine was ne)er built.
Babbage &ifference 1ngine gear and arm
<ngland
1!!1
>ift of 7homas $ergin' E1+B.1!!B
Ada Byron $o2elace
1?0B' Ada $yron =o)elace mo)ed beyond her illustrious predecessors
=eibnit@ and 3ascal' and e)en her brilliant contemporary' 9harles
$abbage' to describe uni)ersal computing much as we understand it
today. As a world authority on early computing de)ices' Aoron "wade
states in F7o Aream 7omorrowF: FAda saw something that $abbage in
some sense failed to see. Cn $abbages world his engines were bound
by number. 5e saw that the machines could do algebra in the narrow
sense GandH that they could manipulate plus and minus signs. &hat
=o)elace saw was that number could represent entities other than
(uantity. "o once you had a machine for manipulating numbers' if
those numbers represented other things' letters' musical notes' and
the machine could manipulate symbols of which number was one
instance' according to rules' then this is a fundamental transition from
a machine which is a number cruncher to a machine that manipulates
symbols according to rules that is the transition from calculation to
general purpose computation.F
B
Hollerith Census Machine
5a)ing completed the 1??! census with only months
to spare' the I.". $ureau of the 9ensus established a
competition for a technological solution for the 1?6!
tally. A young engineer' named 5erman 5ollerith'
won the competition by proposing a manual
cardpunch with mechanical counting (tabulating)
dials.
<ach machine used pin presses and indi)idual cups of
mercury to form an electrical circuit' the tabulating
dials incrementing one position for each such contact
closure. 2or the 1?6! census' 18 cards were
punched (;!!/clerk/day) and counted by 1!! of
5ollerithJs census machines (1!!!
cards/hour/machine). Cn spite of this success'
5ollerith had only one customer who bought
e(uipment once a decade' making it a struggle to
form a )iable company. 5e incorporated 789
(7abulating 8achine 9o.) in 1?6 to sell business%
oriented machines' but had to gear up again for the
16!! census.
$y 1611 he had 1!! customers and was no longer dependent e4clusi)ely on census contracts.
5ollerithJs firm merged with 9omputing "cale 9ompany and Cnternational 7ime .ecording 9ompany to
form 9%7%. (9omputing%7abulating%.ecording) 9ompany. Cn 1610 7homas *. &atson Doined to take
o)er the firm and 5ollerith retired as a wealthy entrepreneur. Cn 1610' the company name was
changed to C$8.
0
1nigma
c. 16B+
Arthur "cherbius' >ermany
7he <nigma encryption machine was patented by 5ugo Koch in 5olland in 1616 and first produced
commercially by >erman engineer Arthur "cherbius in 161B. Cn 161? 3olish officials intercepted one
being shipped to the >erman <mbassy in &arsaw. $y 16B0' 3olish intelligence had cracked the
<nigmaJs method of operation. :n *uly 1+' 16B6' Dust prior to the #a@i in)asion of 3oland' they passed
the secret on to the 2rench and the $ritish go)ernments.
7his three%rotor )ersion is capable of generating 1+!'!!!'!!!'!!!'!!!'!!!'!!! different code
combinations by using spare rotors in different orders' )arying the initial positions' and changing the
plugs on the front.
1nigma in use, 'eneral 'uderian's
Command 3e)icle
c01-*
Credit4 5mperial (ar 6useum
1nigma
>ift of >wen and >ordon $ell' $16;.?1
+
1N5AC
"1lectronic Numerical 5ntegrator and Computer#
1600
8oore "chool of <lectrical <ngineering' Ini)ersity of 3ennsyl)ania' Inited "tates
<#CA9 was originally designed to calculate firing tables for &&CC artillery' but it wasnt completed until
160. Although the <#CA9 was not finished in time for the war effort' it was used to do calculations for
the hydrogen bomb as well as other classified military applications.
&ith about 1?'!!! )acuum tubes' 1'+!! relays' ;!'!!! resistors' and 1!'!!! capacitors' <#CA9 was
the largest electronic )acuum tube de)ice to ha)e been produced to that time' consuming enough
power for +! homes and capable of +'!!! operations per second. 7he principal designers were *.
3resper (3res) <ckert and *ohn 8auchly with 5erman >oldstine acting as the Army liaison.
7he <#CA9 was not a stored program computer' but had to be rewired for each new Dob. 7he rewiring
problem led the team to think about storing the wire configuration as a ,program- in memory' but it was too
late to change the design of the machine under construction.
7he panel on e4hibit here is one of 0! that make up the <#CA9. Ct was used to read the constants set on
switches of the function units and transmit these along the data bus lines that ran around the whole of the
machine. 7he function table was connected )ia the large plug receptacle on the front. Cn later years the
function tables were changed to store simple read%only programs in addition to constants.
Intil it was struck by lightning in 16++' <#CA9 probably did more computation than had been done in all
human history to that point.
7)e 1N5AC at t)e Ballistics
8esearc) $aboratory0 Presper
1c9ert at t)e :unction table and
;o)n 6auc)ly <atc)ing t)e
mac)ine
9redit: $allistics .esearch =aboratory
Herman 'oldstine "left# and Presper 1c9ert )olding
t)e electronics needed to store a single decimal digit
9redit: $allistics .esearch =aboratory

3acuum 7ubes ! 1-*/=s > 1-?/=s

7he key electronic component which was instrumental in making possible the first' programmable
computer was the )acuum tube. 3re)iously' computing and calculating de)ices had relied on
mechanical components whose physical positions represented stored numbers. Lacuum tubes'
howe)er' allowed one de)ice to control the flow of electrons into another de)ice' thus by functioning
as a switch. 7his was a crucial step forward in the de)elopment of the electronic computer.
7hese early computers' howe)er' relied on thousands of )acuum tubes to
work. 7he )acuum tubes themsel)es were relati)ely large (the si@e of a
finger) and fragile (glass tubes with all the air )acuumed out' containing
delicate metal plates and wires). 7hey were e4pensi)e to manufacture' and
had short life spans due to their heat generation. 3art of the maintenance of
these computers was the task of identifying and replacing failed )acuum tubes
and the rerunning of a program module with the replacement tube. Cn order
to be reprogrammed' key components had to be physically re%wired each time.
7he best know computers of this type were the I#CLA9 and <#CA9.
www.md4.ac.uk/gc
'race Hopper, c0 1-**
"1-/6!1--2#
:n "eptember 6th' >race 5opper recorded the first actual
computer FbugF M a moth stuck between the relays and logged at
1+:0+ hours on the 5ar)ard 8ark CC. 5opper' a rear admiral in the
I.". #a)y' enDoyed successful careers in academia' business' and
the military while making history in the computer field. "he helped
program the 5ar)ard 8ark C and CC and de)eloped the first
compiler' A%!. 5er subse(uent work on programming languages
led to 9:$:=' a language specified to operate on machines of
different manufacturers.
;
;o)n 3on Neumann
*ohn )on #eumann wrote F2irst Araft of a .eport on the <ALA9F in
which he outlined the architecture of a stored%program computer.
<lectronic storage of programming information and data eliminated the
need for the more clumsy methods of programming' such as punched
paper tape M a concept that has characteri@ed mainstream computer
de)elopment since 160+. 5ungarian%born )on #eumann demonstrated
prodigious e4pertise in hydrodynamics' ballistics' meteorology' game
theory' statistics' and the use of mechanical de)ices for computation.
After the war' he concentrated on the de)elopment of 3rincetons
Cnstitute for Ad)anced "tudies computer and its copies around the
world.
Alan 7uring
Alan 7uring was found dead at age 01. 5e had published his seminal
paper' F:n 9omputable #umbers'F in 16B' as well as posing significant
(uestions about Dudging Fhuman intelligenceF and programming and
working on the design of se)eral computers during the course of his
career.
A mathematical genius' 7uring pro)ed instrumental in code%breaking
efforts during &orld &ar CC. 5is application of logic to that realm would
emerge e)en more significantly in his de)elopment of the concept of a
Funi)ersal machine-.
7ransistors @ 1arly 1-6/=s
Cn the early 16!s' transistors replaced )acuum tubes. 7ransistors were semiconductor de)ices which
enabled control of the amplification and switching of electrical currents. 7ransistors were smaller' and
more robust than )acuum tubes' re(uired much less power and so generated )ery little heat.
7ransistors were the first e4ample of what are now called solid state de)ices' being make of a
sandwich of treated semiconductor materials (such as silicon). 7his meant that each transistor
component is a small' solid de)ice that could be wired%up on a circuit board. 9omputers could now be
designed with many such circuit boards' each board containing hundreds of transistors.
9omputers that used transistors were generally smaller than those that used )acuum tubes' generally
about the si@e of a cupboard or wardrobe. 7hey also had more memory (up to 0! kilobytes) and were
faster (performing thousands of instructions per second)' cheaper' and easier to program.
www.md4.ac.uk/gc
7his crude )ersion of the germanium
pointNcontact transistor was de)eloped by
the research team of *ohn $ardeen'
&alter $rattain and &illiam "hockley at
$ell =aboratories in 1-*..
?
5ntegrated Circuits @ 6id 1-6/=s to 6id 1-+/=s
7he de)elopment of integrated circuits allowed hundreds and thousands of transistors to be etched
into a single silicon chip. 7his created e)en cheaper and faster computers. 9omputers could be built
with processing speeds e4ecuting millions of instructions per second. 7he si@e of the computer was
smaller' being about the si@e of a desk or trunk.
www.md4.ac.uk/gc
.obert #oyce of 2airchild "emiconductor and *ack Kilby of 7e4as Cnstruments' Cnc. independently
de)eloped the integrated circuit (C9) in 1-?.. $y creating many interconnected transistors on a single
thin wafer of silicon' it became possible to dramatically reduce the si@e' power re(uirements' and cost
of computers. &hile the first C9s had only a few transistors' todays integrated circuits can contain
o)er 1!! million and operate at a speed of billions of cycles per second.
:irst integrated circuit
16+?
9redit: 7e4as Cnstruments' Cnc.
.!inc) etc)ed silicon <afer, transistors4
2!.,///,/// "/0? micron#
I"
c. 166+
>ift of 8ark #oreng' E106+.1!!B
6
1-+2
7he A.3A#<7 grows by ten more nodes in the first 1! months of 16;1. 7he year is spent finishing'
testing and releasing all the network protocols' and de)eloping network demonstrations for the C999.
At $$#' .ay 7omlinson writes a program to enable electronic mail to be sent o)er the A.3A#<7. Ct is
7omlinson who de)elops the userOhost con)ention' choosing the O sign arbitrarily from the non%
alphabetic symbols on the keyboard. Inbeknownst to him' O is already in use as an escape character'
prompt' or command indicator on many other systems. :ther networks will choose other con)entions'
inaugurating a long period known as the e%mail header wars. #ot until the late 16?!s will O finally
become a worldwide standard.
2ollowing the lead of Cntels 0!!0 chip' hand%held calculators ranging from the simple 7e4as
Cnstruments four%function adding machines to the elaborate 5ewlett%3ackard scientific calculators
immediately consign ordinary slide rules to obli)ion.
Eero4 3A.9 de)elops a program called "malltalk' and $ell =abs de)elops a language called 9.
"te)e &o@niak begins his career by building one of the best%known blue bo4esP tone generators that
enable long%distance dialling while bypassing the phone companys billing e(uipment.
7he C999 demonstrations are a tremendous success. :ne of the best known demos features a
con)ersation between 1$5AA' *oseph &ei@enbaums artificially%intelligent psychiatrist located at 8C7'
and 3A..Q' a paranoid computer de)eloped by Kenneth 9olby at "tanford. :ther demos feature
interacti)e chess games' geography (ui@@es' and an elaborate air traffic control simulation. An A7R7
delegation )isits C999 but lea)es in pu@@lement.
Steve Wozniak's 'Blue Box'
People get on my nerves
I am not sure I understand you
You should pay more attention
Suppose you should pay more attention
You're entitled to your opinion
What makes you think I am entitled to my own opinion?
-- from a conversation between PARRY and the !octor" via the ARPA#$%
3ery $arge Scale 5ntegration "3$S5# @ 1-+/=s to present
7he 16;!s saw the de)elopment of the first microprocessors' a de)elopment that made computers
the small' powerful' modern electronic computers we use today. L="C circuits ha)e hundreds of
thousands and e)en millions of transistors being etched onto each semiconductor chip. Cn this way an
entire processor could be conducted on a single chip. 7he speed of these computers started to be
measured in billions of instructions per second.
7his also meant that computers were de)eloped that were affordable for pri)ate' domestic use.
Aecade after decade' computer processing power has continued to grow' and costs ha)e declined.
>ordon 8oore (co%founder of Cntel) made the obser)ation' back in 16+ that e)ery 1? N 10 months
the processing power doubled and the cost of processing technology hal)ed. 7his became known as
8oores =aw.
www.md4.ac.uk/gc
1!
11
1-+-
Car2er 6ead "1-*!
Car2er 6ead was born in $akersfield' 9alifornia' on 8ay 1' 16B0.
8ead has made many pioneering contributions in solid%state electronics' and
was one of the leading forces in 2ery large scale integration "3$S5# design
methodology.
9alifornia Cnstitute of 7echnology professor 9ar)er 8ead and Eero4 9orp. computer scientist =ynn
9onway wrote a manual of chip design' FCntroduction to L="C "ystems.F Aemystifying the planning of
)ery large scale integrated (L="C) systems' the te4t e4panded the ranks of engineers capable of
creating such chips. 7he authors had obser)ed that computer architects seldom participated in the
specification of the standard integrated circuits with which they worked. 7he authors intended
FCntroduction to L="C "ystemsF to fill a gap in the literature and introduce all electrical engineering
and computer science students to integrated system architecture.
Cntroduction to L="C "ystems
11