A HISTORY OF MODERN COMPUTING

By V. DAVID

INTRODUCTION DE NING COMPUTER THE ADVENT OF COMMERCIAL COMPUTING 1945 COMPUTING COMES OF AGE 1956 THE EARLY HISTORY OF SOFTWARE 1952 FROM MAINFRAME TO MINICOMPUTER 1959 THE GO GO YEARS AND THE SYSTEM 360 1961 THE CHIP AND ITS IMPACT 1965 THE PERSONAL COMPUTER 1972 AUGMENTING HUMAN INTELLECT 1975 WORKSTATIONS UNIX AND THE NET 1981 INTERNET TIME 1995 CONCLUSION THE DIGITIZATION OF THE WORLD PICTURE COMPUTERS WERE INVENTED TO COMPUTE TO SOLVE COMPLEX MATHEMA TICAL PROBLEMS AS THE DICTIONARY STILL DE NES THAT WORD 1 THEY STILL DO THAT BUT THAT IS NOT WHY WE ARE LIVING IN AN INFORMATION AGE THAT RE ECTS OTHER THINGS THAT COMPUTERS DO STORE AND RETRIEVE DATA MANAGE NETWORKS OF COMMUNICATIONS PROCESS TEXT GENERATE AND MANIPULATE IMAGES AND SOUNDS Y AIR AND SPACE CRAFT AND SO ON DEEP INSIDE A COMPUTER ARE CIRCUITS THAT DO THOSE THINGS BY TRANSFORMING THEM INTO A MATHEMATICAL LANGUAGE BUT MOST OF US NEVER SEE THE EQUATIONS AND FEW OF US WOULD UNDERSTAND THEM IF WE DID MOST OF US NEVERTHELESS PARTICIPATE IN THIS DIGITAL CULTURE WHETHER BY USING AN ATM CARD COMPOSING AND PRINTING AN OF CE NEWSLETTER CALLING A MAIL ORDER HOUSE ON A TOLL FREE NUMBER AND ORDERING SOME CLOTHES FOR NEXT DAY DELIVERY OR SHOPPING AT A MEGA MALL WHERE THE INVENTORY IS REPLENISHED JUST IN TIME FOR THESE AND MANY OTHER APPLICATIONS WE CAN USE ALL THE POWER OF THIS INVENTION WITHOUT EVER SEEING AN EQUATION AS FAR AS THE PUBLIC FACE IS CONCERNED COMPUTING IS THE LEAST IMPORTANT THING THAT BUT IT WAS TO SOLVE EQUATIONS THAT THE ELECTRONIC DIGITAL COMPUTER WAS INVENTED THE WORD COMPUTER ORIGINALLY MEANT A PERSON WHO SOLVED EQUATIONS IT WAS ONLY AROUND 1945 THAT THE NAME WAS CARRIED OVER TO THAT AN INVENTION SHOULD ND A PLACE IN SOCIETY UNFORESEEN BY ITS INVENTORS IS NOT SURPRISING 3 THE STORY OF THE COMPUTER ILLUSTRATES THAT IT IS NOT THAT THE COMPUTER ENDED UP NOT BEING USED FOR CALCULATION IT IS USED FOR CALCULATION BY MOST PRACTICING SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS TODAY THAT MUCH AT LEAST THE COMPUTER S INVENTORS PREDICTED BUT PEOPLE FOUND WAYS TO GET THE INVENTION TO DO A LOT MORE HOW THEY DID THAT TRANSFORMING THE MATHEMATICAL ENGINES OF THE 1940S TO THE NETWORKED INFORMATION APPLIANCE OF THE 1990S IS THE SUBJECT OF THIS BOOK THE COMPUTER REVOLUTION AND THE HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE EARLY 1980S WHEN I HAD JUST TAKEN MY RST JOB AS A MEMBER OF THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF A STATE UNIVERSITY I MENTIONED TO ONE OF MY COLLEAGUES THAT I WAS STUDYING THE HISTORY OF COMPUTING WHY COMPUT ING HE REPLIED WHY NOT STUDY THE HISTORY OF WASHING MACHINES I THOUGHT HE WAS JOKING MAYBE MAKING FUN OF THE GREENHORN JUST ARRIVED IN THE FACULTY LOUNGE BUT HE WAS SERIOUS AFTER ALL HE HAD A WASHING MACHINE AT HOME IT WAS A COMPLEX PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY AND ITS EFFECT ON HIS DAILY LIFE WAS PROFOUND SURELY IT HAD A HISTORY BUT COMPUTERS THOSE WERE EXOTIC THINGS HE HAD HEARD OF BUT EXPERIENCED IN THE 1990S THAT QUESTION WOULD NOT BE ASKED BECAUSE FEW WOULD ARGUE THAT COMPUTERS ARE NOT IMPORTANT WE LIVE IN AN AGE TRANSFORMED BY COMPUTING 4 THIS IS ALSO THE REASON WHY WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND ITS FIGURE 0 HUMAN COMPUTERS AT WORK AT NORTH AMERICAN AVIATION LOS ANGELES IN THE EARLY 1950S THE TWO WOMEN IN THE LOWER CENTER OF THE PHOTO ARE USING FRIDEN CALCULATORS AND THE MAN AT THE LOWER LEFT IS LOOKING UP A NUMBER ON A SLIDE RULE THE REAR HALF OF THE ROOM IS SET UP FOR DRAFTING ABSENT FROM THIS ROOM ARE ANY PUNCHED CARD MACHINES ALTHOUGH AIRCRAFT ENGINEERS DID USE THEM FOR SOME APPLICATIONS AS DESCRIBED IN THE TEXT SOURCE NASM A HISTORY OF MODERN COMPUTING