LESSON 4:

HISTORY OF COMPUTERS
Learning Outcomes:
After successful completion of this module, the
student can be able to;

• Learn the history of computers

• Identify the different types of computers

• Appreciate the use of old and modern computers

 History of Computer: Basic
Computing
Earliest Periods
Computers originally calculations were computed by
humans, whose job title was computers.

• These human computers were typically engaged in the

calculation of a mathematical expression.
• The calculations of this period were specialized and
expensive, requiring years of training in mathematics.
• The first use of the word "computer" was recorded in
1613, referring to a person who carried out calculations,
or computations, and the word continued to be used in
that sense until the middle of the 20th century.
 TALLY STICKS
A tally stick was an ancient memory
aid device to record and document
numbers, quantities, or even
messages.

Early Man relied on counting on his

fingers and toes (which by the way, is
the basis for our base 10 numbering
system). He also used sticks and
stones as markers. Later notched
sticks and knotted cords were used
for counting. Finally came symbols
written on hides, parchment, and
later paper. Man invents the concept
of number, then invents devices to
 ABACUS
An abacus is a mechanical device used
to aid an individual in performing
mathematical
calculations.
• The abacus was invented in
Babylonia in 2400 B.C.
• The abacus in the form we are most
familiar with was first used in China in
around 500 B.C.
• It used to perform basic arithmetic
operations.

While it predates the Chinese abacus

we do not know if it was the ancestor
of that Abacus. Counters in the lower
 NAPIER’S BONES
Invented by John Napier in 1614.
• Allowed the operator to multiply,
divide and calculate square and cube
roots by moving the rods around and
placing them in specially constructed
boards.
John Napier, a Scottish nobleman and
politician devoted much of his leisure time to
the study of mathematics. He was especially
interested in devising ways to aid
computations. His greatest contribution was
the invention of logarithms. He inscribed
logarithmic measurements on a set of 10
wooden rods and thus was able to do
multiplication and division by matching up
numbers on the rods. These became known
as Napier’s Bones.
 SLIDE RULE
Invented by William Oughtred in 1622.
• Is based on Napier's ideas about
logarithms.
• Used primarily for – multiplication –
division – roots – logarithms –
Trigonometry
•William Oughtred,used
Not normally in EnglanD, invented
for addition or the
slide rule. Using the concept of Napier’s
subtraction.
bones, he inscribed logarithms on strips of
wood and invented the calculating "machine"
which was used up until the mid-1970s when
the first hand-held calculators and
microcomputers appeared.
 PASCALINE
Invented by Blaise Pascal in 1642.
• It was its limitation to addition and
subtraction.
• It is too expensive.
Blaise Pascal, a French mathematical genius,
at the age of 19 invented a machine, which
he called the Pascaline that could do addition
and subtraction to help his father, who was
also a mathematician. Pascal’s machine
consisted of a series of gears with 10 teeth
each, representing the numbers 0 to 9. As
each gear made one turn it would trip the
next gear up to make 1/10 of a revolution.
This principle remained the foundation of all
mechanical adding machines for centuries
after his death. The Pascal programming
 STEPPED RECKONER
Invented by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
in 1672.
• The machine that can add, subtract,
multiply and divide automatically.
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz invented
differential and integral calculus
independently of Sir Isaac Newton, who is
usually given sole credit. He invented a
calculating machine known as Leibniz’s
Wheel or the Step Reckoner. It could add
and subtract, like Pascal’s machine, but it
could also multiply and divide. It did this by
repeated additions or subtractions, the way
mechanical adding machines of the mid to
late 20th century did. Leibniz also invented
something essential to modern computers
— binary arithmeti
 THE BOUCHON (bu shan) LOOM
Invented by Basile Bouchon, the son of
an organ maker, worked in the textile
industry,
At this timeinfabrics
1725.with very intricate patterns
woven into them were very much in vogue. To
weave a complex pattern, however involved
somewhat complicated manipulations of the
threads in a loom which frequently became
tangled, broken, or out of place. Bouchon
observed the paper rolls with punched holes that
his father made to program his player organs and
adapted the idea as a way of "programming" a
loom. The paper passed over a section of the loom
and where the holes appeared certain threads
were lifted. As a result, the pattern could be
woven repeatedly. This was the first punched
paper, stored program. Unfortunately, the paper
tore and was hard to advance. So, Bouchon’s loom
 FALÇON LOOM
Invented by Jean-Batist Falçon in 1728.
• The machine has substituted a deck of
punched cardboard cards for the paper roll
of Bouchon’s loom.
This was much more durable, but the deck of
cards tended to get shuffled, and it was
tedious to continuously switch cards. So,
Falçon’s loom ended up collecting dust next
to Bouchon’s loom.
 JACQUARD LOOM
The Jacquard loom is a mechanical loom,
invented by Joseph-Marie Jacquard in 1881.
• It is an automatic loom controlled by
punched cards.
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz invented
differential and integral calculus
independently of Sir Isaac Newton, who is
usually given sole credit. He invented a
calculating machine known as Leibniz’s
Wheel or the Step Reckoner. It could add
and subtract, like Pascal’s machine, but it
could also multiply and divide. It did this by
repeated additions or subtractions, the way
mechanical adding machines of the mid to
late 20th century did. Leibniz also invented
something essential to modern computers
— binary arithmetic.
 ARITHMOMETER
A mechanical calculator invented
by Thomas de Colmar in 1820,
• The first reliable, useful and
commercially successful calculating
machine.
• The machine could perform the
four basic mathematic functions.
• The first mass-produced
calculating machine.
 DIFFERENCE ENGINE AND ANALYTICAL
ItENGINE
is an automatic, mechanical
calculator designed to tabulate
polynomial
functions.
• Invented by Charles Babbage in
1822 and 1834
• It is the
Charles first mechanical
Babbage is known as the Father of
computer.
the modern computer (even though none of
his computers worked or were even
constructed in their entirety). He first
designed plans to build, what he called
the Automatic Difference Engine. It was
designed to help in the construction of
mathematical tables for navigation.
Unfortunately, engineering limitations of his
time made it impossible for the computer to
 FIRST COMPUTER PROGRAMMER
In 1840, Augusta Ada Byron suggests to
Babbage that he use the binary
system.
• She writes programs for the Analytical
Engine.
During a nine-month period, Ada Lovelace
translated Italian mathematician Luigi
Menabrea's memoir on Charles Babbage's
Analytic Engine. With her translation she
appended a set of notes which specified in
complete detail a method for calculating
Bernoulli numbers with the Engine. Historians
now recognize this as the world's first
computer program and honor her as the first
programmer. Too bad she has such an ill-
received programming language named after
her.
SCHEUTZIAN CALCULATION
(shutzian)

ENGINE

Invented by Per Georg Scheutz in 1843.

• Based on Charles Babbage's difference
engine.
• The first printing calculator.
 TABULATING MACHINE
Invented by Herman Hollerith in 1890.
• To assist in summarizing information
and accounting.
In 1880 taking the U.S. census proved to be a
monumental task. By the time it was completed it
was almost time to start over for the 1890 census.
To try to overcome this problem the Census Bureau
hired Dr. Herman Hollerith. In 1887, using
Jacquard’s idea of the punched card data storage,
Hollerith developed a punched card tabulating
system, which allowed the census takers to record
all the information needed on punched cards which
were then placed in a special tabulating machine
with a series of counters. After the census Hollerith
turned to using his tabulating machines for
business and in 1896 organized the Tabulating
 ATANASOFF-BERRY COMPUTER (ABC)
It was the first electronic digital
computing device.
• Invented by Professor John
Atanasoff and graduate student
Clifford Berry at Iowa State University
between 1939 and 1942.
Dr. John Vincent Atanasoff and his graduate
assistant, Clifford Barry, built the first truly
electronic computer, called the Atanasoff-
Berry Computer or ABC. Atanasoff said the
idea came to him as he was sitting in a small
roadside tavern in Illinois. This computer used
a circuit with 45 vacuum tubes to perform the
calculations, and capacitors for storage. This
was also the first computer to use binary
math.
 HARVARD MARK 1
Also known as IBM Automatic Sequence
Controlled Calculator (ASCC).
• Invented by Howard H. Aiken in 1943
• The first electro-mechanical computer

Dr. Howard Aiken of Harvard finished the

construction of the Automatic Sequence
Controlled Calculator, popularly known as the
Mark I. It contained over 3000 mechanical
relays and was the first electro-mechanical
computer capable of making logical decisions,
like if x==3 then do this not like If its raining
outside I need to carry an umbrella. It could
perform an addition in 3/10 of a second.
Compare that with something on the order of
a couple of nano-seconds (billionths of a
second) today.
 HARVARD MARK 1
One of the primary programmers for the Mark I
was Grace Hopper. One day the Mark I was
malfunctioning and not reading its paper tape
input correctly. Ms. Hopper checked out the
reader and found a dead moth in the
mechanism with its wings blocking the reading
of the holes in the paper tape. She removed
the moth, taped it into her log book, and
recorded... Relay #70 Panel F (moth) in relay.
First actual case of bug being found.

She had debugged the program, and while

the word bug had been used to describe
defects since at least 1889, she is credited with
coining the word debugging to describe the
work of eliminating program errors.
 ELECTRONIC NUMERICAL INTEGRATOR
AND COMPUTER
• ENIAC stands for Electronic
Numerical Integrator and
Computer.
• It was the first electronic
general-purpose computer
completed in 1946.
• Developed by John Presper
ENIAC was
Eckert andthe firstMauchly.
John multipurpose
electronic computer, though very
difficult to re-program. It was primarily
used to computer aircraft courses,
shell trajectories, and to break codes
during World War II.
ELECTRONIC NUMERICAL INTEGRATOR
AND COMPUTER

ENIAC occupied a 20 x 40 foot

room and used 18,000 vacuum
tubes. ENIAC also could never
be turned off. If it was it blew
too many tubes when turned
back on. It had a very limited
storage capacity and it was
programmed by jumper wires
plugged into a large board.
UNIVersal Automatic Computer 1

The UNIVAC was the

first commercial
computer delivered to
a business client, the
U.S. Census
ELECTRONIC DISCRETE VARIABLE
AUTOMATIC COMPUTER
EDVAC stands for Electronic
Discrete Variable Automatic
Computer
• The First Stored Program
Computer
• Designed by Von Neumann in
1952.
• It has a memory to hold both a
stored program as well as data.
THE FIRST PORTABLE COMPUTER
Osborne 1 – the first
portable computer.

• Released in 1981 by
the Osborne Computer
Corporation.
THE FIRST COMPUTER COMPANY
The first computer
company was the
Electronic Controls
Company.
• Founded in 1949 by
John Presper Eckert and
John Mauchly.
 References
• https://ftms.edu.my/v2/wp-content/uploads/
2019/02/csca0201_ch01.pdf
• https://www.sutori.com/story/history-of-ict-
information-and-communicationstechnology--
N7J51bQqSU7vLWcVfdn5M9qa
• https://www.livescience.com/20718-computer-
history.html
• https://www.explainthatstuff.com/
historyofcomputers.htm