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Social Science Pentathlon 23-24 > Section II: General-Purpose Electronic Computers > Flashcards

Section II: General-Purpose Electronic Computers Flashcards

1
Q

What are electromechanical computers?

A

computers that use electricity only to move its parts

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2
Q

What was the problem with artillery guns in 1943?

A

they needed firing tables

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3
Q

What was taken into account when calculating firing tables?

A

wind speed/direction, distance, humidity, elevation, and temperature

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4
Q

What does a firing table do?

A

it tells the gun operator at which angle to shoot the gun

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5
Q

What traditionally created firing tables?

A

human computers

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6
Q

What machine did the Aberdeen Proving Ground have that helped it calculate firing tables?

A

a Differential Analyzer

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7
Q

What other university had the U.S. Army enlisted help from because they also had a Differential Analyzer?

A

UPenn

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8
Q

Who was assigned to supervise the computer team at UPenn?

A

Dr. Herman Goldstine

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9
Q

When was Goldstine drafted into the Army?

A

1942

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10
Q

Where and what did Goldstine teach before being drafted?

A

math at the University of Michigan

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11
Q

Who did Goldstine send to recruit smart people to join the human-computer team at UPenn?

A

his wife, Adele

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12
Q

Who sent a proposal to UPenn to receive funding for a fully electronic computer in 1942?

A

John Mauchly

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13
Q
A
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14
Q

Why did Goldstine’s team at UPenn not want to use the Differential Analyzer?

A

it broke down too much

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15
Q

Who presented a proposal for an electronic computer at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds?

A

Goldstine, Mauchly, and Eckert

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16
Q

How many people were initially assigned to the ENIAC project?

A

12

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17
Q

Who was the lead engineer for the ENIAC?

A

Eckert

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18
Q

How many vacuum tubes did the ENIAC need?

A

18,000

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19
Q

Why were vacuum tubes problematic?

A

they broke down all the time

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20
Q

What did Eckert do to prevent the vacuum tubes on the ENIAC from malfunctioning?

A

he used the highest quality ones and ran them at only 10% of their voltage

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21
Q

What were the 2 main advantages of the ENIAC over mechanical and electromechanical machines?

A

it was faster and could perform conditional branching

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22
Q

What is programming?

A

when a computer is instructed to do a lot of tasks

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23
Q

How would someone program the ENIAC?

A

they would unplug cables and move them to another plug

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24
Q

How many women were selected as the original programmers of the ENIAC?

A

6

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25
Q

Who did Eckert and Mauchly enlist for help with the EDVAC?

A

John von Neumann

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26
Q

Who is John von Neumann?

A

a famous mathematician who helped design the atomic bomb

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27
Q

In 1945, Neuman summarized their plans for the EDVAC in which document?

A

First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC

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28
Q

How did the EDVAC do math?

A

in binary

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29
Q

What did the EDVAC use internally?

A

decimal

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30
Q

How does the EDVAC’s memory compare to the ENIAC’s?

A

it was larger

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31
Q

What is the store program concept? (the EDVAC used this)

A

the concept where data and instructions would be stored in the same memory

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32
Q

What would instructions for the EDVAC be represented as?

A

systems of binary codes

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33
Q

When was the ENIAC complete?

A

fall of 1945

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34
Q

How much did the ENIAC weigh when completed?

A

30 tons

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35
Q

What shape was the ENIAC in?

A

a U-shape

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36
Q

When was the ENIAC unveiled?

A

February 1946

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37
Q

Who sponsored the Moore School Lectures?

A

UPenn

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38
Q

What was the Moore School Lectures?

A

a school that taught students the principles of electronic computing

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39
Q

After working with the ENIAC team, where did Neumann return to work on his new computer?

A

Princeton, New Jersey

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40
Q

What was Neumann’s new computer called?

A

the IAS Computer

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41
Q

When was the IAS Computer completed?

A

1951

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42
Q

What was special about the IAS Computer?

A

it used the stored program concept

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43
Q

Who invented the Williams tube?

A

Frederic Williams

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44
Q

Who made the Manchester Baby?

A

Max Newman and Frederic Williams

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45
Q

Where was the Manchester Baby built?

A

England

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46
Q

Why was the machine called the Manchester Baby?

A

because of its limited functionality

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47
Q

What was the Manchester Baby meant to do?

A

test the Williams tube and the stored program concept

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48
Q

When was the Manchester Baby completed?

A

1948

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49
Q

Who made the EDSAC?

A

Maurice Wilkes

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50
Q

What title did the EDSAC receive?

A

it was the first practical stored program computer

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51
Q

Why wasn’t the EDVAC the first store program computer?

A

because it was not completed until later

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52
Q

Why did Eckert and Mauchly leave UPenn?

A

There were disputes over patent rights

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53
Q

When was the ENIAC patent finalized?

A

1964

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54
Q

What did the EDSAC use for memory?

A

a delay line

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55
Q

What element was used in delay lines?

A

mercury

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56
Q

When did the EDVAC run its first successful program?

A

1951

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57
Q

Which company offered Mauchly and Eckert jobs after they quit UPenn?

A

IBM

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58
Q

What was the name of the company Eckert and Mauchly made?

A

EMCC

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59
Q

What was EMCC’s first product going to be?

A

the UNIVAC

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60
Q

What type of contract did they use to sell the UNIVAC?

A

fixed price contracts

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61
Q

What contracts should Eckert and Mauchly have used instead for the UNIVAC?

A

cost plus development contracts

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62
Q

How much did EMCC sell the UNIVAC for?

A

270k

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63
Q

How much did the UNIVAC cost to develop?

A

900k

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64
Q

When EMCC ran out of money to build the UNIVAC, which other computer did they sell?

A

the BINAC

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65
Q

How much money did they sell the BINAC for?

A

100k

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66
Q

How much money did the BINAC cost to make?

A

280k

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67
Q

When was the BINAC completed?

A

1949

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68
Q

Where was BINAC first sent?

A

to Northrop

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69
Q

In 1950, which company bought EMCC?

A

Remington Rand

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70
Q

How many vacuum tubes did the EDVAC use?

A

5k

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71
Q

Which election did UNIVAC predict correctly?

A

the 1952 election

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72
Q

Which candidate did UNIVAC correctly predict would win?

A

Dwight D. Eisenhower

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73
Q

Which 3 electronic computers had IBM been secretly developing?

A

the IBM 701, 702, and 650 models

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74
Q

Name the oldest to newest of the 3 first IBM electronic computers.

A

the IBM 701, 702, and 650

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75
Q

Which year was the IBM 701 announced?

A

1952

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76
Q

Why was the IBM 701 similar to the Neumann IAS Computer?

A

because they hired John von Neumann to help them

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77
Q

The IBM 701 was as powerful as which other computer?

A

the UNIVAC

78
Q

What did IBM use for memory storage for the IBM 701?

A

Williams tubes

79
Q

How was the IBM 702 different than the 701?

A

the 702 was marketed toward business data processing and the 701 was marketed toward scientific

80
Q

Which year was the IBM 702 announced?

A

1953

81
Q

Which year was the IBM 650 announced?

A

1953

82
Q

What did the IBM 650 use for memory storage?

A

magnetic drums

83
Q

Why did IBM sell the 650 model to universities for cheaper?

A

so they would offer a computer class, which would hopefully produce trained students

84
Q

How many IBM 650 models were sold in total?

A

2,000+

85
Q

Did IBM ever pass UNIVAC in installments?

A

yes, they did in 1955

86
Q

Which company did Remington Rand acquire that UNIVAC often fought with?

A

ERA

87
Q

In 1955, Remington Rand was acquired by which other company?

A

Sperry Gyroscope

88
Q

Sperry Gyroscope and Remington Rand merged to create which company?

A

Sperry Rand

89
Q

When was CDC founded?

A

1957

90
Q

What did CDC produce?

A

high-performance computers for scientific purposes

91
Q

What were the 8 main competitors in the computer industry by the late 50s?

A

Burroughs, NCR, IBM, Honeywell, Sperry Rand, General Electric, CDC, and RCA

92
Q

By 1965, what percent of the market share did IBM have?

A

65%

93
Q

The computer industry was often referred to as ____ and the seven dwarfs.

A

IBM

94
Q

When RCA and General Electric exited the computer industry, what were the remaining competitors referred to as?

A

BUNCH

95
Q

What is the CPU considered to be?

A

the brains of the computer

96
Q

What does the CPU do?

A

it does the math and executes instructions

97
Q
A
98
Q

What CPU did the ENIAC use?

A

vacuum tubes

99
Q

What does a vacuum tube look like?

A

a light bulb

100
Q

What does a vacuum tube do?

A

it regulates and amplifies the flow of electricity in a circuit

101
Q

How do vacuum tubes perform math?

A

the rapid electrical pulses simulated counting, thus performing math

102
Q

Where was the transistor invented?

A

Bell Labs

103
Q
A
104
Q

Bell Labs is a subsidiary of which company?

A

AT&T

105
Q

Why weren’t transistors used in commercial computers when they were first invented?

A

they weren’t reliable enough

106
Q

What is the function of a transistor?

A

the same as a vacuum tube, amplifying and regulating the electrical current of a circuit

107
Q

What is another word for integrated circuit?

A

microchip

108
Q

Who invented the microchip?

A

Robert Noyce and Jack Kilby

109
Q
A
110
Q

What semiconductor is primarily used in a microchip?

A

silicon

111
Q

What technology replaced vacuum tubes?

A

transistors

112
Q

What technology replaced transistors?

A

microchips

113
Q

What did the ENIAC use for memory?

A

vacuum tubes

114
Q

What did the EDVAC use for memory?

A

delay lines

115
Q

Which toxic liquid is used in delay lines?

A

mercury

116
Q

What is a delay line?

A

a long metal column that contains mercury inside

117
Q

What is a Williams tube similar to?

A

a cathode-ray tube

118
Q

Which type of memory involved a metal drum that had heads to read and write data?

A

magnetic drum memory

119
Q

What are core memories made of?

A

thousands of crisscrossing wires that form a lattice

120
Q

Core memory is an example of what?

A

random access memory or RAM

121
Q

Which IBM computers were the first to use core memory?

A

the 704 and 705 models

122
Q

Delay lines are what type of memory?

A

sequential access

123
Q

What is sequential access memory?

A

when the values are read in the order they appear

124
Q

Since the 70s, what have microchips been used for?

A

memory and processors

125
Q

What was the ENIAC’s storage?

A

punched cards

126
Q

What was the UNIVAC’s storage?

A

a magnetic tape drive

127
Q

Which other early computers used magnetic tape drives?

A

IBM 701 and 702

128
Q

Why were the IBM magnetic tape drives lighter than the ones used in the UNIVAC?

A

their’s were made out of plastic

129
Q

What were the advantages of magnetic tape drives over punched cards?

A

they were faster, had a larger storage capacity, and could be reused

130
Q

What is the disadvantage of magnetic tape drives?

A

they are only machine-readable and they are sequential access

131
Q

Who first proposed disk storage in the 40s?

A

Eckert

132
Q

Which company invented the disk unit?

A

IBM

133
Q

What type of access do disks offer?

A

random access

134
Q

When was the disk unit invented?

A

1956

135
Q

Which company invented the floppy disk?

A

IBM

136
Q
A
137
Q

Who popularized the concept of high-level coding languages?

A

Grace Hopper

138
Q

In 1944, Grace Hopper was assigned to which school to program which computer?

A

Harvard, the Mark 1

139
Q

What could the Mark I not perform?

A

conditional branching

140
Q

What were the names of the compilers used in the UNIVAC?

A

A-0 and B-0

141
Q

What were the bad parts about the UNIVAC’s compilers?

A

they were very slow and lacked efficiency

142
Q

Who made the UNIVAC’s compilers?

A

Grace Hopper

143
Q

What was the first high-level programming language to receive widespread use?

A

FORTRAN

144
Q

Who created FORTRAN?

A

John Backus

145
Q

What did Backus realize about the cost of running computers?

A

75% of it was just paying the programmers

146
Q

What is FORTRAN short for?

A

Formula Translator

147
Q

FORTRAN had a syntax similar to what?

A

algebra

148
Q

How long did Backus expect to create FORTRAN?

A

6 months

149
Q

How long did it really take to create FORTRAN?

A

3 years

150
Q

When was FORTRAN released?

A

1957

151
Q

FORTRAN was released for which computer?

A

the IBM 704

152
Q

When UNIVAC improved its B-1 compiler, they re-released it as what?

A

the FLOW-MATIC programming language

153
Q

When was COBOL standardized by the government?

A

1960

154
Q

What was Hopper’s most noticeable impact on COBOL?

A

the English-like syntax

155
Q

Why was Hopper thrown out of a UNIVAC executive’s office?

A

because she wanted to replace English terms in her FLOW-MATIC language with their French equivalents

156
Q

Most modern programming languages can be traced back to which programming language?

A

the C language

157
Q

Which decade was the C language invented

A

the 70s

158
Q

Where was the C language invented?

A

Bell Labs

159
Q

Where was LISP invented?

A

MIT

160
Q

When was LISP invented?

A

1958

161
Q

What was unique about LISP’s syntax?

A

it used lots of parentheses

162
Q

What is LISP good for?

A

programming AI and application software

163
Q

Were the IBM 702 and 705 business or scientific targeted?

A

business

164
Q

Were the IBM 701 and 704 business or scientific targeted?

A

scientific

165
Q

What is the main difference between scientific and business computers?

A

floating-point arithmetic

166
Q

What does floating-point arithmetic do?

A

it allows computers to represent very large and very small numbers with lots of precision

167
Q

Which computers were introduced by IBM in 1959?

A

the 7090 and 7094

168
Q

What did the IBM 7090, 7094, and 1401 use for memory and processing?

A

core memory and transistors

169
Q

What purpose were the IBM 7090 and 7094 intended for?

A

scientific

170
Q

What purpose was the IBM 1401 intended for?

A

business

171
Q

Why would customers in the 50s and early 60s not want to upgrade their computer?

A

because you had to rewrite the code for the new computer from scratch

172
Q

When did IBM announce its System/360 line of computers?

A

1964

172
Q

What was unique about the System/360?

A

it was backward and forward-compatible

172
Q

What was the speed difference/ratio of the fastest and slowest System/360 model?

A

25 to 1

173
Q

How did IBM achieve the System/360’s compatibility?

A

microprogramming

174
Q

What was the flagship operating system for the System/360?

A

OS/360

175
Q

What is an operating system?

A

a program that connects all the parts of the computer together, allowing them to work with each other

176
Q

Who was the manager of the OS/360 project?

A

Fred Brooks

177
Q

What did Fred Brooks do with the OS/360 project that he hoped would make it go faster?

A

he added more people

178
Q

What was Fred Brooks’s mistake with the OS/360 project?

A

adding more people

179
Q

What is Brooks’s Law?

A

adding more manpower to a late software project makes it later

180
Q

When did Brooks release the book The Mythical Man-Month?

A

1975

181
Q

What was The Mythical Man-Month?

A

a collection of essays that explains the lessons he learned while working on the OS/360 project

182
Q

When was the first NATO-sponsored software engineering conference?

A

1968

183
Q

When was the first IBM personal computer released?

A

1981

184
Q

Which company tried to claim patent rights over all electronic computers?

A

Sperry Rand

185
Q

When did the legal battle with Sperry Rand and its competitors end?

A

1973

186
Q

Judge Earl Larson declared what about computer patent rights?

A

computers were in the public domain, anyone could make them without having the pay royalty fees to Sperry Rand

187
Q

In 1986, Burroughs and Sperry Rand merged to create which company?

A

Unysis

188
Q

DEC’s most famous product was which type of computer?

A

the minicomputer

Social Science Pentathlon 23-24 (4 decks)

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