History of Computer: Basic Computing Periods

Vocabulary flashcards covering historical computing devices, key inventors, basic periods of information technology, and the five computer generations.

Computer

A programmable electronic machine that manipulates information or data, with the ability to store, retrieve, and process data according to a list of instructions.

Tally Stick

An ancient memory aid device used to record and document numbers, quantities, or messages.

Abacus

A mechanical calculating device invented in Babylonia in 2400 B.C. and used in China around 500 B.C. to perform basic arithmetic operations.

Napier's Bones

A calculating system invented by John Napier in 1614 that allowed operators to multiply, divide, and calculate square and cube roots by moving rods on special boards.

Slide Rule

An analog calculation tool invented by William Oughtred in 1622 based on logarithms, used primarily for multiplication, division, roots, logarithms, and trigonometry.

Pascaline

An expensive mechanical calculating machine invented by Blaise Pascal in 1642 that was limited strictly to addition and subtraction.

Stepped Reckoner

A mechanical calculating machine invented by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1672 that could automatically add, subtract, multiply, and divide.

Jacquard Loom

A mechanical loom invented by Joseph-Marie Jacquard in 1881 that was controlled automatically by punched cards.

Arithmometer

A mechanical calculator invented by Thomas de Colmar in 1820 that became the first mass-produced, reliable, and commercially successful calculating machine.

Difference Engine and Analytical Engine

Automatic mechanical calculators designed by Charles Babbage in 1822 and 1834 to tabulate polynomial functions; considered the first mechanical computer.

Augusta Ada Byron

The individual recognized as the first computer programmer, who suggested the binary system to Charles Babbage in 1840 and wrote programs for the Analytical Engine.

Scheutzian Calculation Engine

The first printing calculator, invented by Per Georg Scheutz in 1843 based on Charles Babbage's difference engine.

Tabulating Machine

An electromechanical machine invented by Herman Hollerith in 1890 to assist in summarizing accounting information using punched cards.

Harvard Mark 1

The first electro-mechanical computer, invented by Howard H. Aiken in 1943, also known as the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC).

Z1

The first programmable computer, created by Konrad Zuse in Germany between 1936 and 1938, which required punch tape for input and output.

Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC)

The first electronic digital computing device, invented by Professor John Atanasoff and graduate student Clifford Berry at Iowa State University between 1939 and 1942.

ENIAC

Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer; completed in 1946 by John Presper Eckert and John Mauchly as the first electronic general-purpose computer.

UNIVAC 1

UNIVersal Automatic Computer 1; designed by John Presper Eckert and John Mauchly as the first commercial computer.

EDVAC

Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer; designed by Von Neumann in 1952 as the first stored-program computer featuring memory for both programs and data.

Osborne 1

The first portable computer, released in 1981 by the Osborne Computer Corporation.

Electronic Controls Company

The first computer company, founded in 1949 by John Presper Eckert and John Mauchly.

Premechanical Age

The period between 3000 B.C. and 1450 A.D. characterized by early communication like petroglyphs, papyrus paper, early alphabets, libraries, and the abacus.

Petroglyph

Simple picture drawings carved in rock used by early humans for communication.

Mechanical Age

The information technology era between 1450 and 1840 when early analog and mechanical computing machines such as the slide rule, Pascaline, and Difference Engine were developed.

Electromechanical Age

The computing period between 1840 and 1940 marked by telecommunications innovations (telegraph, Morse code, telephone, radio) and early massive digital computers like the Harvard Mark 1.

Electronic Age

The current era of computing from 1940 to present, starting with high-speed digital systems like ENIAC and progressing through four generations of hardware.

Apple II

A personal computer created during the fourth generation of digital computing, featuring microprocessors and a graphical user interface (GUI).

First Generation Computers

Computers from 1946 to 1958 that utilized vacuum tubes for circuitry, magnetic drums for memory, machine language, and punched card input.

Second Generation Computers

Computers from 1959 to 1964 that substituted vacuum tubes with transistors, introduced assembly language, and used magnetic core memory.

Third Generation Computers

Computers from 1965 to 1970 that featured integrated circuits on semiconductor chips, operating systems, and high-level programming languages such as BASIC.

Fourth Generation Computers

Computers from 1971 to today built around microprocessors containing thousands of integrated circuits on a single chip, giving rise to personal computers and modern networking.

Fifth Generation Computers

Computing systems based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), parallel processing, natural language recognition, and superconductors.