ECM 1407 The History of Computing Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the 2 root classes of machines?

A

Mechanical
Electronic

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2
Q

What are the 2 root classes of computers?

A

Analogue
Digital

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3
Q

Give the timeline of the pre-history of computing:

A
  • Abacus
    ○ 1000 - 500 BC
  • Antikythera mechanism
    ○ - 100 BC
    ○ The oldest example of an analogue computer
  • First automatic mechanical calculator
    ○ 1623: Wilhem Schickard
    ○ It could add and subtract 6-digit numbers
  • Leibniz’s calculating machine
    -1640s
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4
Q

Significance of Antikythera mechanism from Leibniz’s calculating machine

A

The Antikythera mechanism was analogue, while the Leibniz calculating machine was digital

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5
Q

The prelude and invention of the Difference Machine:

A
  • London, 1821
    ○ Charles Babbage - Wishing to create a mechanical computer via a steam engine
  • 1822
    ○ Charles Babbage announces the difference engine to the public
  • 1823
    ○ Babbage receives funding from the British government to start working on his project
    ○ £1700 (approx £200,000 now)
    ○ Babbage hires an exceptional toolmaker named Joseph Clement
    § Just adding plus and minus
  • 1832
    ○ Babbage and Clement built a working prototype of the Difference Engine
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6
Q

Outcome of the Difference Machine?

A
  • 1834
    ○ The machine construction is halted, Joseph Clement and Babbage dispute over compensation as government funding ceases
    ○ Clement melts the existing machine just to gain money
    ○ Was the difference engine just a calculator? Yes, a great one
    ○ It mechanised not just a single calculation but a whole series of calculations on a number of variables
    It had storage that can be used for later processing
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7
Q

How did Babbage describe the ‘Analytical Engine’ in 1837?

A

1) Input
2) Store -> Memory
3) Mill -> Central Processing Unit (CPU)
4) Output
○ Never built when Babbage was alive due to fund shortages

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8
Q

What did Babbage develop in 1847-1849?

A

The Difference Engine No. 2

This Engine calculates with numbers thirty-one digits long and can tabulate any polynomial up to the seventh order. The design was elegantly simple and required only approximately a third of the parts called for in Difference Engine No. 1

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9
Q

What was the name of the first program developed by the first programmer, Ada Lovelace?

A

Note-G
Holds a legacy as a visionary

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10
Q

Wilhem Gottfried Leibniz

A
  • In 1703, Leibniz described how binary numbers may be added, subtracted, multiplied and divided
  • He also developed the concept of formal symbolic logic, considered to be ahead of his time when not many advancements were made back then
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11
Q

Charles Boole

A
  • 1847, algebra of Boole: the foundation for modern computing.
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12
Q

Claude Shannon

A
  • 1936: Boolean algebra + circuit design
  • Shannon provided mathematical techniques for building a network of switches to realize a specific logical function
    ○ An electrical circuit that works if, and only if, the right combination of buttons is pressed.
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13
Q

What controversy surrounds Lovelace’s title as the first programmer?

A

Deemed the first computer programmer by many, despite many of the findings being handed to her by Babbage.
She did, however, discover bugs in Babbage’s code.

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