| Computer History Year/Enter | Computer History Inventors/Inventions | Computer History Description of Event |
| | Konrad Zuse - Z1 Computer | First freely programmable computer. |
| | John Atanasoff & Clifford Berry ABC Computer | Who was first in the computing biz is not always as easy as ABC. |
| | Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper Harvard Mark I Computer | The Harvard Mark 1 computer. |
| | John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly ENIAC 1 Computer | 20,000 vacuum tubes later... |
| | Frederic Williams & Tom Kilburn Manchester Baby Computer & The Williams Tube | Baby and the Williams Tube turn on the memories. |
| | John Bardeen, Walter Brattain & Wiliam Shockley The Transistor | No, a transistor is not a computer, but this invention greatly affected the history of computers. |
| | John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly UNIVAC Computer | First commercial computer & able to pick presidential winners. |
| | International Business Machines IBM 701 EDPM Computer | IBM enters into 'The History of Computers'. |
| | John Backus & IBM FORTRAN Computer Programming Language | The first successful high level programming language. |
| Stanford Research Institute, Bank of America, and General Electric ERMA and MICR | The first bank industry computer - also MICR (magnetic ink character recognition) for reading checks. | |
| | Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce The Integrated Circuit | Otherwise known as 'The Chip' |
| | Steve Russell & MIT Spacewar Computer Game | The first computer game invented. |
| | Douglas Engelbart Computer Mouse & Windows | Nicknamed the mouse because the tail came out the end. |
| | ARPAnet | The original Internet. |
| | Intel 1103 Computer Memory | The world's first available dynamic RAM chip. |
| | Faggin, Hoff & Mazor Intel 4004 Computer Microprocessor | The first microprocessor. |
| | Alan Shugart &IBM The "Floppy" Disk | Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its flexibility. |
| | Robert Metcalfe & Xerox The Ethernet Computer Networking | Networking. |
| | Scelbi & Mark-8 Altair & IBM 5100 Computers | The first consumer computers. |
| | Apple I, II & TRS-80 & Commodore Pet Computers | More first consumer computers. |
| | Dan Bricklin & Bob Frankston VisiCalc Spreadsheet Software | Any product that pays for itself in two weeks is a surefire winner. |
| | Seymour Rubenstein & Rob Barnaby WordStar Software | Word Processors. |
| | IBM The IBM PC - Home Computer | From an "Acorn" grows a personal computer revolution |
| | Microsoft MS-DOS Computer Operating System | From "Quick And Dirty" comes the operating system of the century. |
| | Apple Lisa Computer | The first home computer with a GUI, graphical user interface. |
| | Apple Macintosh Computer | The more affordable home computer with a GUI. |
| | Microsoft Windows | Microsoft begins the friendly war with Apple. |
| | | |
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
COMPUTER INVENTIONS HISTORY
ABACUS
The abacus was an early aid for mathematical computations. Its only value is that it aids the memory of the human performing the calculation. A skilled abacus operator can work on addition and subtraction problems at the speed of a person equipped with a hand calculator (multiplication and division are slower). The abacus is often wrongly attributed to China. In fact, the oldest surviving abacus was used in 300 B.C. by the Babylonians. The abacus is still in use today, principally in the far east. A modern abacus consists of rings that slide over rods, but the older one pictured below dates from the time when pebbles were used for counting (the word "calculus" comes from the Latin word for pebble).
PASCALINE
In 1642 Blaise Pascal, at age 19, invented the Pascaline as an aid for his father who was a tax collector. Pascal built 50 of this gear-driven one-function calculator (it could only add) but couldn't sell many because of their exorbitant cost and because they really weren't that accurate (at that time it was not possible to fabricate gears with the required precision). Up until the present age when car dashboards went digital, the odometer portion of a car's speedometer used the very same mechanism as the Pascaline to increment the next wheel after each full revolution of the prior wheel. Pascal was a child prodigy. At the age of 12, he was discovered doing his version of Euclid's thirty-second proposition on the kitchen floor. Pascal went on to invent probability theory, the hydraulic press, and the syringe. Shown below is an 8 digit version of the Pascaline, and two views of a 6 digit version:
Pascal's Pascaline [photo © 2002 IEEE]
A 6 digit model for those who couldn't afford the 8 digit model
A Pascaline opened up so you can observe the gears and cylinders which rotated to display the numerical result
Sunday, June 7, 2009
ABOUT HUMAN VESSELS
Blood vessels are intricate networks of tubes that transport blood throughout the entire body. Types of vessels: Microcirculation: Microcirculation deals with flow of blood from arterioles to capillaries or sinusoids to venules. |
ABOUT HUMAN BRAIN
Human brain
The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. It has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over five times as large as the "average brain" of a mammal with the same body size.[citation needed] Most of the expansion comes from the cerebral cortex, a convoluted layer of neural tissue that covers the surface of the forebrain. Especially expanded are the frontal lobes, which are involved in executive functions such as self-control, planning, reasoning, and abstract thought. The portion of the brain devoted to vision is also greatly enlarged in humans.
Brain evolution, from the earliest shrewlike mammals through primates to hominids, is marked by a steady increase in encephalization, or the ratio of brain to body size. The human brain has been estimated to contain 50–100 billion (1011) neurons[citation needed], of which about 10 billion (1010) are cortical pyramidal cells.[citation needed] These cells pass signals to each other via around 100 trillion (1014)[citation needed] synaptic connections.
ABOUT HUMAN KIDNEY
Kidney
The kidneys are paired organs seen in many types of animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. Part of the urinary system, they are responsible for urine production as well as a number of other homeostatic functions. These include regulation of electrolytes, acid-base balance, and blood pressure; excretion of wastes such as urea and ammonium; reabsorption of glucose and amino acids; and production of hormones including vitamin D and erythropoietin.
Located behind the abdominal cavity in the retroperitoneum, the kidneys receive blood from the paired renal arteries, and drain into the paired renal veins. Each kidney excretes urine into a ureter, itself a paired structure that empties into the urinary bladder.
ABOUT HUMAN HEART
The Human Heart
The heart is one of the most important organs in the entire human body. It is really nothing more than a pump, composed of muscle which pumps blood throughout the body, beating approximately 72 times per minute of our lives. The heart pumps the blood, which carries all the vital materials which help our bodies function and removes the waste products that we do not need. For example, the brain requires oxygen and glucose, which, if not received continuously, will cause it to loose consciousness. Muscles need oxygen, glucose and amino acids, as well as the proper ratio of sodium, calcium and potassium salts in order to contract normally. The glands need sufficient supplies of raw materials from which to manufacture the specific secretions. If the heart ever ceases to pump blood the body begins to shut down and after a very short period of time will die.
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