Computer birth
The computer history is narrowly linked to attempts to facilitate and automate great volumes of calculations. Even simple arithmetic operations with great numbers are inconvenient to a human brain. Therefore already in the ancient time there was the elementary countable device. In the seventeenth century the slide rule facilitating difficult mathematical calculations has been invented.
In 1642 Blez Paskal has designed the eight-bit summarising mechanism. Two centuries later in 1820 Frenchman Charles de Colmar has created an adding machine, capable to make multiplication and division. This instrument has strongly taken the place on accounting desktops.
All main ideas which underlie operation of computers, have been stated in 1833 by English mathematician Charles Bebbidzh. He has developed the project of the computer for performance of scientific and technical calculations where has foreseen the main devices of the modern computer, and also its tasks. Handle of such computer it should be carried out by program path. For input and output of given Bebbidzh suggested to use punched cards - pages from a tight paper with the information put by means of holes. At that time punched cards were already used in the textile industry.
Holes in them made the way by means of special devices - punches. Ideas of Bebbidzh began to be embodied really in a life in the end of 19 centuries.
In 1888 the American engineer Herman Hollerit has designed the first electromechanical accounting machine. This computer named as the tabulator, could read out and sort the statistical records encoded on punched cards. In 1890 the invention of Hollerita has been used for the first time in 11th American population census. Operation which five hundred employees fulfilled within seven years, Hollerit has made with 43 assistants on 43 tabulators for one month.
In 1896 Herman Hollerit has grounded Computing Tabulating Recording Company corporation, which became a basis for future Biznes Meshins International (International Business Machines Corporation, IBM) - the company which have brought the huge contribution to development of world computer equipment.
Further developments of a science and engineering have allowed to construct the first computers in 1940th years. As the creator of first operating computer Z1 with programmed control consider German engineer Konrad Tsuze.
In February, 1944 on one of firms IBM in cooperation with scientists of the Harward university by request of Naval Forces of the USA the computer "Mark 1" has been created. It was the monster in weight about 35 tons. In "Mark 1" mechanical units for representation of numbers and electromechanical - for handle of computer operation were used. Numbers were stored in the registers consisting of ten-tooth countable sprockets.
Each register contained 24 sprockets, and 23 from them were used for number representation (i.e." Mark 1 "could" mill "numbers long to 23 bits), and one - for representation of its sign. The register had the mechanism of transmission of tens and consequently was used not only for storage of numbers; being in one register, the number could be transferred in other register and is added to number being there (or it is subtracted from it). In total in" Mark 1 "was 72 registers and, besides, expanded memory from 60 registers derivated by mechanical switches. Constants were manually entered into this expanded memory - numbers which did not vary in the course of calculations.