Birthing the Computer: From Relays to Vacuum Tubes
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| Title: | Birthing the Computer: From Relays to Vacuum Tubes |
|---|---|
| Description: | Birthing the Computer: From Relays to Vacuum Tubes is the first in a multi-volume series on historical computing machines. This series will span the development of computer systems from the Zuse machines of the early 1930s to about 1995 when microprocessors began to be commoditized. Each volume will focus on a range of technologies, or a class of machines or a particular vendor, and will describe the hardware of the machines and its peripherals, the operating system and system software, and its influence upon programming languages. This volume begins with the Zuse machines which were constructed from relays, but contained the basic elements of a computer system, namely input, computing engine, and output. Early machines from Atanasoff and Berry, Aiken, Stibitz, and IBM are described. The transition from relays to vacuum tubes increased speed and performance significantly, and led to the first true computers in ENIAC, EDSAC, and EDVAC which used paper tape and Williams tubes for I/O and storage. These machines were built by universities.Several early machines were purpose built such as Colossus and BINAC, and created with government support and industrial know-how. By the mid-to-late ‘50s, computing machines were being built by universities (the SSEM, Whirlwind, and IAS machines), governments (the NBS SEAC and SWAC, and several other machines), and industry (the UNIVAC series and the English Electric DEUCE). Most of these machines were constructed using the von Neumann architecture, and represent an evolution of thinking in how computing machines were to operate along with some innovative ideas in software and programming languages. By the end of the 1950s, the design, development, programming and use of computing machines were in full ferment as many new ideas were proposed, many different machines were designed and some were constructed. Computing machines became a commercial enterprise. Governments receded from building machines to levying requirements and funding construction, while universities continued to explore new architectures, new operating systems, and new programming languages. |
| Authors: | Stephen H. Kaisler, Author |
| Resource Type: | eBook. |
| Subjects: | Computers--History |
| Categories: | COMPUTERS / Machine Theory, COMPUTERS / Computer Literacy, COMPUTERS / Computer Science, COMPUTERS / Data Science / General, COMPUTERS / Information Technology, COMPUTERS / Reference, COMPUTERS / Hardware / General |
| Database: | eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) |
| FullText | Links: – Type: ebook-pdf Text: Availability: 0 |
|---|---|
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Birthing the Computer: From Relays to Vacuum Tubes – Name: Abstract Label: Description Group: Ab Data: Birthing the Computer: From Relays to Vacuum Tubes is the first in a multi-volume series on historical computing machines. This series will span the development of computer systems from the Zuse machines of the early 1930s to about 1995 when microprocessors began to be commoditized. Each volume will focus on a range of technologies, or a class of machines or a particular vendor, and will describe the hardware of the machines and its peripherals, the operating system and system software, and its influence upon programming languages. This volume begins with the Zuse machines which were constructed from relays, but contained the basic elements of a computer system, namely input, computing engine, and output. Early machines from Atanasoff and Berry, Aiken, Stibitz, and IBM are described. The transition from relays to vacuum tubes increased speed and performance significantly, and led to the first true computers in ENIAC, EDSAC, and EDVAC which used paper tape and Williams tubes for I/O and storage. These machines were built by universities.Several early machines were purpose built such as Colossus and BINAC, and created with government support and industrial know-how. By the mid-to-late ‘50s, computing machines were being built by universities (the SSEM, Whirlwind, and IAS machines), governments (the NBS SEAC and SWAC, and several other machines), and industry (the UNIVAC series and the English Electric DEUCE). Most of these machines were constructed using the von Neumann architecture, and represent an evolution of thinking in how computing machines were to operate along with some innovative ideas in software and programming languages. By the end of the 1950s, the design, development, programming and use of computing machines were in full ferment as many new ideas were proposed, many different machines were designed and some were constructed. Computing machines became a commercial enterprise. Governments receded from building machines to levying requirements and funding construction, while universities continued to explore new architectures, new operating systems, and new programming languages. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Stephen+H%2E+Kaisler%2C+Author%22">Stephen H. Kaisler, Author</searchLink> – Name: TypePub Label: Resource Type Group: TypPub Data: eBook. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Computers--History%22">Computers--History</searchLink> – Name: SubjectBISAC Label: Categories Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22COMPUTERS+%2F+Machine+Theory%22">COMPUTERS / Machine Theory</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22COMPUTERS+%2F+Computer+Literacy%22">COMPUTERS / Computer Literacy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22COMPUTERS+%2F+Computer+Science%22">COMPUTERS / Computer Science</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22COMPUTERS+%2F+Data+Science+%2F+General%22">COMPUTERS / Data Science / General</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22COMPUTERS+%2F+Information+Technology%22">COMPUTERS / Information Technology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22COMPUTERS+%2F+Reference%22">COMPUTERS / Reference</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22COMPUTERS+%2F+Hardware+%2F+General%22">COMPUTERS / Hardware / General</searchLink> |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Classifications: – Code: 004.09 Scheme: ddc Type: prePub Languages: – Code: eng Text: English Subjects: – SubjectFull: Computers--History Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Birthing the Computer: From Relays to Vacuum Tubes Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Stephen H. Kaisler, Author – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Stephen H. Kaisler, Author IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Type: published Y: 2016 – D: 13 M: 03 Type: profile Y: 2017 Identifiers: – Type: isbn-print Value: 9781443897785 – Type: isbn-electronic Value: 9781443896313 Titles: – TitleFull: Birthing the Computer: From Relays to Vacuum Tubes Type: main |
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