A BRIEF HISTORY OF

COMPUTERS

GROUP 2
 ABACUS

• The history of computer begins with

the birth of abacus which is believed to
be the first computer. It is said that
Chinese invented Abacus around 4,000
years ago.
• It was a wooden rack which has metal
rods with beads mounted on them.
The beads were moved by the abacus
operator according to some rules to
perform arithmetic calculations.
Abacus is still used in some countries
like China, Russia and Japan.
 Napier's Bones

• It was a manually-operated calculating

device which was invented by
John Napier (1550-1617) of Merchiston.

• In this calculating tool, he used 9

different ivory strips or bones marked
with numbers to multiply and divide.
So, the tool became known as "Napier's
Bones. It was also the first machine to
use the decimal point.
 Pascaline

• Pascaline is also known as Arithmetic

Machine or Adding Machine. It was
invented between 1642 and 1644 by a
French mathematician-philosopher
Biaise Pascal.

• Pascal invented this machine to help his

father, a tax accountant. It could only
perform addition and subtraction. It
was a wooden box with a series of
gears and wheels. When a wheel is
rotated one revolution, it rotates the
neighboring wheel.
 Stepped Reckoner or Leibnitz wheel

• It was developed by a German

mathematician-philosopher Gottfried
Wilhelm Leibnitz in 1673. He improved
Pascal's invention to develop this machine.

• It was a digital mechanical calculator

which was called the stepped reckoner as
instead of gears it was made of fluted
drums.
 Difference Engine

• In the early 1820s, it was designed by

Charles Babbage who is known as
"Father of Modern Computer". It was
a mechanical computer which could
perform simple calculations.

• It was a steam driven calculating

machine designed to solve tables of
numbers like logarithm tables.
 Tabulating Machine

• It was invented in 1890, by Herman

Hollerith, an American statistician. It was a
mechanical tabulator based on punch
cards. It could tabulate statistics and
record or sort data or information.

• This machine was used in the 1890 U.S.

Census. Hollerith also started the
Hollerith?s Tabulating Machine Company
which later became International Business
Machine (IBM) in 1924.
 Differential Analyzer

• It was the first electronic computer

introduced in the United States in
1930. It was an analog device invented
by Vannevar Bush.

• This machine has vacuum tubes to

switch electrical signals to perform
calculations. It could do 25 calculations
in few minutes.
 Mark I

• The next major changes in the history

of computer began in 1937 when
Howard Aiken planned to develop a
machine that could perform
calculations involving large numbers.

• In 1944, Mark I computer was built as a

partnership between IBM and Harvard.
It was the first programmable digital
computer.
 Generations of Computers

A generation of computers refers to the specific improvements in

computer technology with time. In 1946, electronic pathways called
circuits were developed to perform the counting. It replaced the
gears and other mechanical parts used for counting in previous
computing machines.

In each new generation, the circuits became smaller

and more advanced than the previous generation
circuits. The miniaturization helped increase the
speed, memory and power of computers.
 First Generation Computers
The first generation (1946-1959) computers were slow, huge and
expensive. In these computers, vacuum tubes were used as the basic
components of CPU and memory. These computers were mainly
depended on batch operating system and punch cards. Magnetic tape
and paper tape were used as output and input devices in this
generation;

Some of the popular first generation computers are;

• ENIAC ( Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)

• EDVAC ( Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer)
• UNIVACI( Universal Automatic Computer)
• IBM-701
• IBM-650
 Second Generation Computers
The second generation (1959-1965) was the era of the transistor
computers. These computers used transistors which were cheap,
compact and consuming less power; it made transistor computers
faster than the first generation computers. In this generation, magnetic
cores were used as the primary memory and magnetic disc and tapes
were used as the secondary storage. Assembly language and
programming languages like COBOL and FORTRAN, and Batch
processing and multiprogramming operating systems were used in
these computers.
Some of the popular second generation computers are;

• IBM 1620
• IBM 7094
• CDC 1604
• CDC 3600
• UNIVAC 1108
 Third Generation Computers
The third generation computers used integrated circuits (ICs) instead of
transistors. A single IC can pack huge number of transistors which
increased the power of a computer and reduced the cost. The
computers also became more reliable, efficient and smaller in size.
These generation computers used remote processing, time-sharing,
multi programming as operating system. Also, the high-level
programming languages like FORTRON-II TO IV, COBOL, PASCAL PL/1,
ALGOL-68 were used in this generation.
Some of the popular third generation computers are;

• IBM-360 series
• Honeywell-6000 series
• PDP(Personal Data Processor)
• IBM-370/168
• TDC-316
 Fourth Generation Computers
The fourth generation (1971-1980) computers used very large scale
integrated (VLSI) circuits; a chip containing millions of transistors and
other circuit elements. These chips made this generation computers
more compact, powerful, fast and affordable. These generation
computers used real time, time sharing and distributed operating
system. The programming languages like C, C++, DBASE were also used
in this generation.
Some of the popular fourth generation computers are;

• DEC 10
• STAR 1000
• PDP 11
• CRAY-1(Super Computer)
• CRAY-X-MP(Super Computer)
 Fifth Generation Computers

In fifth generation (1980-till date) computers, the VLSI technology was

replaced with ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration). It made possible the
production of microprocessor chips with ten million electronic
components. This generation computers used parallel processing
hardware and AI (Artificial Intelligence) software. The programming
languages used in this generation were C, C++, Java, .Net, etc.

Some of the popular fifth generation computers are;

• Desktop
• Laptop
• NoteBook
• UltraBook
• ChromeBook
Conclusion

The history of computers spans centuries, from

ancient counting tools to the 20th-century electronic
breakthroughs like ENIAC. The evolution accelerated
with transistors, integrated circuits, and personal
computers in the mid-20th century. The 1990s brought
the internet, transforming global connectivity. Mobile
computing defined the 21st century. Ongoing
advancements in AI and quantum computing continue
the legacy of innovation, showcasing the remarkable
journey from early computation to our digitally
interconnected present.