The world's first computer. Who invented the first computer. History of the invention of computers. Our days

The history of the creation of a modern computer does not even go back a hundred years, although the first attempts to make counting easier were made by man 3000 BC in Ancient Babylon. However, today not every user knows what he looked like. It's worth noting that it had little in common with a modern personal device.

Excursion into history

Although the first computer was not introduced to the public until the end of World War II, work on it began at the beginning of the 20th century. But all the computers created before ENIAC never found practical application, nevertheless, they also became certain stages in the movement of progress.

Russian researcher and scientist A. Krylov developed the first machine that solved differential equations in 1912.
1927 USA, scientists developed the first analog device.
1938 Germany, Konrad Tzue created the Z1 computer model. Three years later, the same scientist developed the next version of the Z3 computer, which was more similar to modern devices than others.
1941 USA, the first automatic computer “Mark 1” was created under a subcontract agreement with IBM. The following models were created successively at intervals of several years: “Mark II”, “Mark III/ADEC”, “Mark IV”.
1946 USA, presented to the publicthe very first computer in the world- ENIAC, which was practically applicable in military calculations.
1949 Russia, Sergei Lebedev presented the first Soviet computer in drawings; by 1950, MESM was built and put into mass production.
1968 Russia, A. Gorokhov created a project for a machine containing a motherboard, an input device, a video card and memory.
1975 USA, the first serial computer Altair 8800 was created. The device was based on an Intel microprocessor

As you can see, developments did not stand still and progress moved by leaps and bounds. Very little time passed and massive, ridiculous devices were transformed into the modern personal computers we are familiar with.

ENIAC- the very first computer in the world

I would like to pay a little more attention to this device. It was he who was awarded the title of the world's first computer, despite the fact that some models had been developed before it. This is due to the fact that ENIAC became the first computer to find practical application. It is worth noting that the machine was put into operation in 1945 and was finally disconnected from power in October 1955. Agree, 10 years of continuous service is a considerable period for the first computer that has found practical application.

How the computer was used

Initially the very first computer in the worldwas created to calculate firing tables required for artillery troops. The calculating teams couldn't do their job because the calculations took time. Then, in 143, a project for an electronic computer was presented to the military commission, which was approved, and active construction of the machine began. The process was completed only in 1945, so it was not possible to use ENIAC for military purposes and it was taken to the University of Pennsylvania to carry out calculations in the development of thermonuclear weapons.

Mathematical modeling became a difficult task for the first computer, so the formation of models took place according to the most simplified schemes. Nevertheless, the desired result was achieved and the possibility of creating a hydrogen bomb was proven with the help of ENIAC. In 1947, the machine began to be used for calculations using the Monte Carlo method.

In addition, in 1946, an aerodynamic problem was solved at ENIAC; physicist D. Hartree analyzed the problem of air flowing around an aircraft wing at supersonic speeds.

In 1949, Von Neumann calculated the constants Pi ande.ENIAC presented the data with an accuracy of 2 thousand decimal places.

In 1950, a computer made a numerical calculation of the weather forecast, which turned out to be quite accurate. Despite the fact that the calculations themselves took a lot of time.

The creators of the machine

It is difficult to name the sole creator of the first computer. A large team of engineers and programmers worked on ENIAC. Initially, the creators of the project were John Mauchly and John Eckert. Mauchly was a faculty member at the Moore Institute at the time, and Eckert was enrolled as a student there. They began developing a computer architecture and presented the computer project to the commission.

In addition, the following people took part in the creation of the machine:

battery development - Jack Davey;
data input/output module – Harry Husky;
multiplication module - Arthur Burks;
division module and root extraction - Jeffrey Chuan Chu;
Lead Programmer – Thomas Kite Sharples;
function tables - Robert Shaw;
scientific consultant - John von Neumann.

Also, a whole staff of programmers worked on the machine.

Device settings

As already said above,the world's first computerwas completely different from modern devices. It was a very massive structure, consisting of more than 17 thousand lamps of 16 types, more than 7 thousand silicon diodes, 1.5 thousand relays, 70 thousand resistors and 10 thousand capacitors. As a result, the weight of the first operating computer was 27 tons.

Specifications:

device memory capacity – 20 number of words;
the power consumed by the machine is 174 kW;
computing power 5000 addition operations per second. For multiplication, the machine used multiple addition, so productivity dropped and amounted to only 357 operations.
clock frequency – 100 kHz;
punched card tabulator for input and output of information.

The decimal number system was used to carry out calculations, although the binary code was already known to scientists.

It is worth noting that during the calculation process, ENIAC required so much electricity that the nearest city was often left without power for many hours. To change the calculation algorithm, reconnection of the device was required. Von Neumann then improved the computer and added memory containing basic computer programs, which greatly simplified the work of programmers.

ENIAC became a zero generation computer. In its design it is impossible to guess the prerequisites for the creation of modern devices. The calculation processes were also not as productive as scientists might have wanted. Nevertheless, it was this machine that proved that it was possible to create a completely electronic computer and gave impetus to further development.

Some details todaythe very first computer in the worldare kept in the National Museum of American History. The complete structure takes up too much space to be presented for review. Despite the fact that this was one of the first attempts to create a working machine, the computer remained in working order for 10 years and at the time of its creation played a huge and irreplaceable role in the development of computer technology.

Subsequently, the machines became smaller and smaller, and their capabilities became more extensive. The first Apple 1 was released in 1976. And the first computer game was released back in 1962. Even now, the development of computer technology does not stand still. What do you think awaits us in the future?

The acquaintance with the computer took place not so long ago, but its appearance was preceded by a long history of creation.

A little history

Blaise Pascal and Wilhelm Leibniz's adding machine are considered the ancestors of the modern personal computer. The term “computer” was first mentioned back in the 18th century. Then this term was applied to any mechanical computing device that could perform the simplest operations - addition and subtraction.

In the Oxford Dictionary, the word "computer" was interpreted as "computer".

Later, at the beginning of the 19th century, a more “smart” machine was invented that could solve even simple equations. Even later, they were able to create the first analytical multifunctional machine operating using punched cards. Given the close attention of scientists to these devices, their modernization took place at an accelerated pace. In a short time they were equipped with electric relays and vacuum tubes.

A long way from the first computer to the modern computer

In 1946, the first computer was presented to the world. True, that machine was many times larger than a modern computer and absorbed quite a large amount of electricity. The weight of the first computer was approximately 30 tons. Only large, wealthy companies and enterprises allowed themselves to use such computers.

In the early 60s, thanks to the invention of transistors, manufacturers were able to release the first mini-computer, the PDP-8. The computer was equipped with RAM for storing information, and they learned to save information on magnetic disks. The leading position in the production of computers at that time was taken by IBM, which to this day remains the largest computer manufacturer in the world.

A landmark event in the development of personal computers is the creation by Bill Gates of the Basic language interpreter “Altair”, which made it possible to create a variety of programs for computers.

Since the creation of Altair, the production of computers began to be widespread. Many manufacturers of PCs and software for them began to appear.

From that moment on, the main emphasis was on improving the quality and versatility of this technology, which allowed a person to use a multifunctional and compact “super device” - a modern computer.

Today it is impossible to imagine life without a personal computer, but not so long ago people lived without computers and were happy with everything. Let's take a look at the history of the very first personal computer.

The role of the personal computer in our modern life cannot be overestimated. Right now, humanity is finally approaching its cherished dream - to have smart mechanical assistants in any area of life. A personal computer has become simply indispensable for work, entertainment or leisure. The heirs of the first computers, collected in basements and garages, now stand in chic offices, stylish offices and in our cozy apartments. It should be noted that not immediately Personal Computer made its way to the market, the fate of individuals and corporations that did a lot for the modern development of computer technology was not always successful.

How it all began

At the end of the 19th century in America, Herman Hollerith invented counting and punching machines. They used punched cards to store numerical information. G. Hollerith is the founder of a company that produces counting and punching machines. IBM is the most popular computer manufacturing corporation in the world today.
The first computer was invented in the USA in 1945. It was a universal machine using vacuum tubes, it was designed by J. Mauchly and J. Eckert.

All electronic computer technology can be divided into generations. Generational changes are mainly associated with the progress of electronic technology. So:
— The 1st generation of computers are tube machines from the 50s. Punched tapes and punched cards were used to enter programs and data.
- 2nd generation of computers - transistors became an elementary basis in the 60s. Computers are now more reliable, more compact, and less energy-intensive.
- 3rd generation of computers - created on integrated circuits. Magnetic disks, a new type of storage devices, appear.
- 4th generation of computers - a microprocessor was created in 1971 by Intel. By connecting the microprocessor with external memory and input-output devices, a microcomputer was invented.

Personal computers

The most popular computers today are personal computers.
The appearance of the PC is associated with the names of two American specialists: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. In 1976, their first PC -1 appeared, and in 1977 - Apple-2.

A personal computer is a microcomputer with user-friendly hardware and software. The software allows a person to easily communicate with the computer and benefit from it. The PC is now as common a household appliance as, for example, a radio. Since 1980, the most popular company on the PC market has been the American company IB M. Ten years later, machines from the Apple Corporation become famous.

The emergence of the personal computer in its significance for social development can only be compared with the emergence of book printing. It was PCs that brought computer literacy to the masses. With the development of this type of electronic machines, the concept of “information technology” arose and, in principle, humanity cannot do without them in any sphere of its life.

From Apple) creates a personal computer and receives a patent for it!

Did you know that the world's first personal computer was not created by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in a Palo Alto garage, but by a simple Soviet designer Arseny Anatolyevich Gorokhov at the Omsk Research Institute of Aviation Technologies?

Let's rewind time.

1950s. Computers are huge, bulky and expensive. The Soviet "Whirlwind" of 1951, the first machine with data output to the screen, has only 100% RAM. 512 bytes, occupies a two-story house. American "peer" - Univac– has a magnetic metal tape drive, a high-speed printer, but weighs 13 tons and costs about $1.5 million. Bendix G-15, released in 1956, is called a mini-computer - in fact it weighs 450 kg and costs at least $50,000. Not a single car deserves the title of personal car.

1960s. Computers are becoming faster, more powerful, and more compact. The first commercial computer equipped with a keyboard and monitor is released in the USA - "PDP-1". The dimensions of the new device are the size of three refrigerators, the price is tens of times lower than the cost of a regular large computer. A big step forward, but not enough for the widespread introduction of technology. Total only 50 copies were sold.

The first “home” computer claims to be Honeywell Kitchen Computer, introduced in the US in 1969. It weighed about 65 kg, cost 10600$ , was a pedestal with a built-in cutting board, a panel of lights and buttons. It performed only one function - storing various recipes. Working with the “kitchen computer” required a two-week course because recipes were displayed on the screen in binary code. There were no people willing to purchase such an expensive “cookbook”.

1970s. With the creation of the first microprocessor, the era of personal computers begins. Inventors compete to build their own models. American entrepreneur Edward Roberts is the first to realize how great the potential of the 8-bit microprocessor is. Intel 8080, released in 1974, and creates a microcomputer based on it "Altair 8800". Thanks to a deal concluded with Intel for the wholesale purchase of microprocessors ($75 per unit, with a retail price of $360), Roberts sets a record price for his invention - only 397 “buckets”! Advertising on the cover of a respected magazine "Popular Electronics" behind 1975 the year is doing its job. In the first month, developers sell several thousand copies "Altair 8800". However, the received order comes as a surprise to buyers: the kit consists of a set of parts and a box for the case. Users have to solder, test, and create programs in machine language themselves. (Which, of course, is also not bad, because it is on "Altair 8800" founders "Microsoft" Bill Gates and Paul Allen are testing their famous program - "Basic").

Be that as it may, Roberts’ computer is a godsend for inventors, and “mere mortals” are still left without technology. To help them in 1976 year, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs come, deciding to sell their "Apple I" , assembled for personal use in a garage in Palo Alto (California). The cost of a new computer is 666,66$ . And the main advantage is that, unlike "Altair 8800" and many other cars of that time, "Apple I" offered already assembled. All you need is a case, a keyboard and a monitor. But they will also be included in the kit 2 years later, in the serial production of color, sound "Apple II". This is the history of the personal computer.

Stop, stop, stop... But what about the Soviet scientist and the Research Institute of Aviation Technologies?!

Oh yes! Completely forgot. There are in the history of personal computers and dark page.

Here is how it was. In the distant 1968 year, 8 years before the first Apple, Soviet electrical engineer Arseny Anatolyevich Gorokhov invented the car entitled “Device for specifying a program for reproducing the contour of a part.” So, in any case, it is indicated in the patent, copyright certificate № 383005 , dated May 18, 1968. The name is not accidental, because the developed device was intended primarily for creating complex engineering drawings. The inventor himself prefers to call the device a “programmable device intellect.”

According to the drawings, the “intellector” had a monitor, a separate system unit with a hard drive, a device for solving autonomous problems and personal communication with a computer, motherboard, memory, video card and other things, with the exception of a computer mouse.

Omsk electromechanical engineer Arseny Gorokhov 45 years ago invented a device that is now called a Personal Computer

According to the website “Omsk Time”, today, unfortunately, it is impossible to see the world’s first personal computer; the institution where it was created, the “mailbox” Omsk Research Institute of Aviation Technologies, has been closed for several years. The author of the invention still has patent, with description "Programmable intellect device" and an entry in the Russian book of records DIVO: 45 years ago in 1968, Omsk electromechanical engineer Arseny Gorokhov invented a device that is now called a Personal Computer.

Now Gorokhov uses his personal computer mainly as a typewriter. According to him, it was new 5 years ago, and to do an “upgrade”, that is, to modernize, is expensive, the pension will not be enough.

The components of a modern computer - a monitor, a system unit, a keyboard - were also in Gorokhov’s “intellector,” although under different names. The device was intended primarily for creating complex engineering drawings. Gorokhov also developed his own “software” - a way to dialogue with a machine without thick packs of punched cards and a team of programmers. But further All-Union patent things didn’t work out - the invention was not given the green light, and in 1975 they learned that the term “personal computer” was given to the world by the American company Apple.

40 copyright certificates and patents of Arseny Gorokhov over three decades are just moral satisfaction from his work. Traces of material remained in the patent records - 20 rubles for each, not included in the series. If a new product was still allowed to make its way into the “series,” the author received 1000 times more. Just to recognize the mysterious "law of luck" The inventor did not always succeed. And now Gorokhov calculates the probable profits from the opposite, not “how much they received, but how much they could not.”

“It’s not oil that is the future of Russia, but inventors”- the leitmotif of Gorokhov’s next article, “The System for Accelerated Development of Inventions,” published in the last, 12th, 2003 issue of the magazine “Intellectual Property.” It is a pity that in Russia there is no practice, like in the United States, where the President meets with the head of the Patent Office twice a year. Increasingly, instead of a sense of pride, one has to use irony, says the author. Prospects are fading.

Now on the inventor’s desktop is a new type of periodic table, and a blank for spatial television. It’s just that there were no people interested in the idea, except for rare guest journalists.

About the invention cell phone article "The Mystery of the Cell" ...

People all over the world use computers every day to work, communicate, search for information on the Internet, watch movies and TV series, play games and much more. But when and who gave people the opportunity to do this? In the modern world of technological progress, it is difficult to imagine life without a PC. Today's pupils and students cannot imagine life without a computer: writing essays and reports by hand, looking for information in libraries, and not in Wikipedia... So, who and when invented the first computer in the world?

Background

The answer to the question of when the first computer appeared goes back to the distant past, the main purpose of which was to simplify mathematical calculations. For this purpose, back in the third millennium BC, the very first abacus - abacus(from Latin abacus “board, counting board”). However, they were used rather not to simplify counting, but to remember intermediate values. Abaci can be used to perform four arithmetic operations, as well as to calculate square roots and third roots.

Mechanical and automatic computing machines

Next on the list of ancestors of the modern PC were the adding machine, designed to accurately calculate four operations, and the arithmograph, a mechanical computing machine that automatically recorded numbers on a special tape. Known throughout the history of the world, Leonardo da Vinci was the one who first depicted the diagram of a mechanism similar to an adding machine, but his ideas did not receive recognition and dissemination.
The first adding machine in history appeared in mid-1623 - Wilhelm Schickard counting clock. The device consisted of gears connected in series and served to perform addition, multiplication and memorization of intermediate calculations.
Blaise Pascal's Pascalina, invented in 1642, had a similar internal structure and was long considered the first mechanical counting device. The adding machine was a box with gears, on the panel of which there were wheels with numbers from 1 to 9, intended for entering numbers to be added. The answer was displayed at the top of the case. Adding machine She knew how to not only fold, although this required some additional effort.

Also in the 17th century, Leibniz's adding machine (1673) and Moreland's machine (1674) were created. In 1709, Marquis Giovanni de Poleni from Italy introduced his version of the adding machine. In the 50s of the 19th century, Pafnutiy Lvovich Chebyshev created the first adding machine in Russia.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the English astronomer Edmund Gunther proposed putting a logarithmic scale on a ruler and using compasses to perform addition and subtraction with logarithms. In the 1620s, the English mathematician Edmund Wingate improved this ruler with two additional scales, and in 1622, William Oughtred published his version of the device in the treatise “Circles of Proportions.” Actually, William is considered the author of the first slide rule, which until 1633 was circular. The following improvements are due to Robert Bissacker (1654), Seth Partridge (1657) and Thomas Everard (1683). The familiar slider on the device appeared thanks to the French engineer and mathematician Victor Mayer Amédée Mannheim only in the middle of the 19th century.
One of the most important steps in the history of the PC was the appearance in 1801 of Joseph Marie Jacquard's punch card, used for automatic data processing. This card is the first version of modern binary code to use the presence or absence of holes in the cardboard instead of zeros and ones. Joseph used such a device to automatically control patterns on fabrics in weaving machines.

The work of bookkeepers was greatly simplified when in 1822 the English mathematician Charles Babbage constructed a model of a difference engine, the first idea of which belongs to the German engineer Johann Muller and dates back to 1788. The mechanical apparatus was called Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine and served to automate calculations by successively approximating functions with polynomials and calculating finite differences.

Difference machine

Thanks to the opportunity to represent logarithmic and trigonometric functions in polynomials, this device is a fairly universal computing tool and can thus replace up to 20 accountants with manual adding machines. Some time later, Martin Wiberg from Sweden improved the device and used it to calculate and publish logarithmic tables.

History of the invention of the computer

Electromechanical computing tools

The first electromechanical device to carry out calculations was a tabulator built by the American Herman Hollerith, designed to speed up the processing of the results of the 1890 census in the United States. The machine summarized and sorted information written in numbers or letters on punched cards, and produced the result on a paper tape or special forms. Such devices were used for a long time to process arrays of information before electronic computers became widespread.

The breakthrough was invention of the German engineer Konrad Zuse Z3, created in 1941. This device was the first fully functional software-controlled and binary-coded machine and had the properties inherent in a modern PC. Three years before the introduction of the Z3, Zuse introduced the Z1 to the world, which was limited in programmability and differed mainly from the final model in the absence of a square root function. In 1939, the engineer completed the second version of the computer, which became the world's first electromechanical computer put into operation. the very first computers in the world.

The success of creating devices was the implementation of their work in the form of a binary system, which by the 20th century was not something supernatural, but Conrad managed to combine the knowledge of other scientists and create on their basis the first programmable computer.

On August 7, 1944, at Harvard University, after passing a series of successful tests, the first American fully programmable computer, the Mark 1, which did not require human intervention, was launched. automatic calculator, driven by sequences. The machine was developed and created in 1941 under an agreement with IBM based on Babbage's developments.

Actually "Mark 1" is an improved manual adding machine, but thanks to its programmability, many call it the first truly working computer. The machine read information from a perforated tape, and cyclic processes were performed by closing the beginning and end of the tape being read.

Electronic computers

The concept of “electronic computer” should be distinguished from the broader “computer”, since a computer implies the use of electronic components as functional units, while calculations can also be performed in a number of other ways. The first computers were ENIAC (1946, USA), Manchester Small Experimental Machine, also known as Baby (1948, UK) and EDSAC (1949, UK).
April 7, 1964 IBM announced the creation of System 360 computers. This series subsequently became an example of an open standard, in other words, the compatibility of equipment made by different manufacturers. All models, regardless of their size and shape, had typical details. Thus, the customer could purchase a relatively budget model and, if necessary, upgrade it to a larger system in the future. In fact, it was IBM/360 that set the 8-bit byte standard and introduced the hexadecimal number system into widespread use in programming, and also became the first 32-bit computer system.

Personal computers

A personal computer (PC or PC - personal electronic computer), so familiar to modern people, is a desktop micro-computer, which is a household appliance with universal functionality.
The first PC was the H316 Desktop Computer, released by Honeywell in 1969. The device cost $10,600 and weighed as much as 45 kg. One of the main purposes of this device was to store various recipes, hence the second name “Kitchen Computer”.
A decisive role in the emergence of the PC was played by the invention of the i4004 microprocessor by Intel employees in 1971, which could reproduce all the functions of a large computer processor in one chip.