The First Generation of Computers

By: Darcy Rae Levensaler

7/20/03

Modern life today is run by computers. Computers control everything we do, whether it is traffic lights, store scanners, or even withdrawing money out of the bank. This wonderful technology came from somewhere and don’t expect it to ever stop evolving. For us to be able to understand what is in store for the future we have to start understanding how things happened in the past.

The true beginning of today’s computing technology can be credited to the English math professor Charles Babbage. Babbage realized as early as 1812 that many long computations consisted of operations that were repeated over and over again. Babbage’s first attempt to try and make the lives of mathematicians easier was the machine called the Difference Engine, which was made to be able to solve differential equations. This machine would be powered by steam and would be as large as a locomotive, but after 10 years of work Babbage dropped the idea and started working on what he called the Analytical Engine. This would be the first all purpose computer. They had the newest technology know to man at that time, but unfortunately Babbage’s computers were never completed.

The Harvard Mark I (other wise known as the ASCC Mark I, Harvard-IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator) was built at Harvard University by Howard H. Aiken and his team. This being partly financed by IBM became the first program controlled calculator. This machine in whole weighed 5 tons at 51 feet long and had 750,000 parts. This machine was used mostly to create ballistics tables for the US Navy.

The earliest attempt to build an electronic computer was by J.V. Atanasoff, a professor of physics and mathematics at Iowa State, in 1937. Atanasoffs sole purpose was to come up with a machine that would help his graduate students solve systems of partial differential equations. He somehow succeeded in building a machine that could solve problems and unknowns, however, the machine was not programmable, and was more of an electronic calculator.

The first programmable electronic computer was first used in Britain. This machine contained 2400 vacuum tubes for logic, and was called the Colossus. It was built by Dr. Thomas Flowers in a laboratory in London. It’s main purpose, however, was to crack the German Larenz (SZ42) Cipher used by the ‘Enigma’ machines. In translated 5000 characters a second and used punched tape for input which was absolutely astonishing. Unfortunately, however, after these machines were used they had to be destroyed to make sure they didn’t fall into the wrong hands.

One of the first totally electronic, value driven, digital computers was the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert spent three years in the Ballistic Research Laboratory before it was totally finished in 1946. It weighed 30 tons and contained 18,000 vacuum tubes. ENIAC was so big that it consumed more than 160 kilowatts of electrical power and enormously took up 1800 square feet of floor space. It had all the needed inputs and outputs and everything was wired together so the programs would flow. This was a major downfall, however, because this meant that every time the program needed to be changed the machine had to be rewired, along with setting tables and switches. Another major downfall to this machine besides its size was that it contained vacuum tubes which tend to be very fragile and wear out. Failures would occur in them and eventually this drove developers to find an alternative to vacuum tubes.

ENIAC ENGINEERS

ENIAC PRINTER

“The initiating and cycling units of ENIAC”

Soon after ENIAC came the SSEM (small scale experimental machine or ‘Baby’). This machine was built at Manchester University and ran its first program on June 21, 1948. Thanks to Jon von Neumann, a Hungarian mathematician, it was the first computer to store both its programs and data in RAM, as modern computers do now days. By 1949 the ‘Baby’ had grown, and acquired a magnetic drum for more permanent storage. It then became the Manchester Mark I. Soon after this break through they came up with the first computer to use magnetic tape which was named EDVAC (electronic discrete variable computer). This meant instead of re-wiring every time you wanted to re-program all you had was load it off the tape. This was proposed by Neumann and was completed in 1952.

The first commercially successful electronic computer, UNIVAC-1, was also the first general use computer to be made. This computer was made to handle both numeric and textual information. Designed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, this machine eventually marked the real beginning of the computer era.

As you can see for yourselves these machines were not only enormous and an electrical nightmare, but they are also very confusing and time consuming. As far as I’m concerned we have come a long way since 1946. Our computers have gone from being as large as locomotives and using steam to being flat screen. We should be very thankful for these engineers who devoted their lives to making the future an easier and more efficient way of living. Just think of what the world would be like without computers.

We wouldn’t be writing these papers now would we?

Bibliography

1. Burks, Alice R. The First Electronic Computer. University of Michigan Press. September 1989.

2. Decker, Rick. Hirshfield, Stuart. The Analytical Engine: An Introduction to Computer Science Using the Internet. PWS Publishing Company, Boston, MA. 1998. pgs. 12-21.

3. Guinee, Kathleen. The Development of the Computer. 1995. <http://www.cs.princeton.edu/> (7-10-03).

4. Wurster, Christian. Computer History. Taschen America, LLC. March 2002.