Milestones CSC301 Excerpts from Ethics for the Information Age - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key computing milestones described in the notes.

Abacus

A computing aid with counters sliding along rods within a rectangular frame; an ancient device used for arithmetic.

Logarithm tables

Tables published by Napier and Kepler to convert multiplication into addition, saving time for complex math and finance.

Step Reckoner

Pascal’s mechanical calculator (1640) that could add whole numbers up to six digits.

Arithmometer

The first commercially successful calculator, built on Leibniz’s stepped-drum gear; developed by Charles Thomas de Colmar.

Printing calculator

A calculator (Scheutz and Edvard) capable of computing tables and printing results.

Burroughs Adding Machine

A leading mechanical adding-machine company founded by William Burroughs.

Cash register

A clocklike adding device invented by James Ritty to log sales; evolved into the POS era.

Punched cards

Cards used to store data for automatic processing; sorted and tabulated to speed calculations.

Hollerith

Herman Hollerith’s device that used punched cards for data processing; boosted census efficiency.

1890 Census

Census project completed two years faster with Hollerith’s punched-card technology, saving millions.

ENIAC

Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer; first general-purpose electronic computer; very fast but not stored-program.

EDVAC

Early computer design introducing stored-program concept and memory-stored instructions.

Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) / Manchester Baby

First operational fully electronic computer with stored program in memory (Williams Tube).

Ferranti Mark 1

World’s first commercial computer; successor to Manchester research machines.

UNIVAC

Universal Automatic Computer; first commercially produced computer; famed for the 1952 election forecast.

Assembly language

Symbolic representations of machine instructions that simplify programming.

A-0 system

Grace Hopper’s assembler-based system that automated linking of subroutines into machine code.

FORTRAN

Translating system (IBM) for scientific computing; first high-level language with a compiler (1957).

COBOL

Business-oriented language standardized under DoD influence; designed for business data processing.

BASIC

Beginner’s programming language developed at Dartmouth; made computing more accessible; time-sharing supported by DTSS.

Transistor

Solid-state switch replacing vacuum tubes; revolutionized electronics (Bell Labs, 1948).

Integrated Circuit

A chip containing multiple transistors and other components; enabled compact, reliable electronics.

Moore’s Law

Prediction that the number of transistors on a chip doubles roughly every two years.

Minuteman II

U.S. ballistic missile program that drove extensive use and learning of integrated circuits.

System/360

IBM mainframe family (1964) with software compatibility across models.

Mainframe

Large-scale computers serving data-processing needs of big organizations.

Intel

Company founded by Moore and Noyce; major producer of microprocessors and semiconductors.

4004 microprocessor

Intel’s 4-bit microprocessor (first microprocessor); 2300 transistors inside a single chip.

Altair 8800

Early influential personal computer by MITS; sparked hobbyist computing and BASIC usage.

VisiCalc

First widely used spreadsheet program; boosted business use of personal computers (Apple II).

IBM PC

Open-architecture personal computer (1981) that enabled widespread cloning and software growth.

DOS

Disk Operating System from Microsoft; pivotal for IBM-compatible PCs; enabled software ecosystem.

GUI

Graphical user interface enabling visual interaction with the computer (mouse, windows).

Alto

Xerox PARC minicomputer that popularized GUI and mouse-based interaction.

Ethernet

Networking standard developed at PARC; linked computers and enabled LANs.

Apple Macintosh

Apple’s GUI-driven computer (1984) popularizing desktop publishing and ease of use.

Windows 3.0

Microsoft GUI for IBM PC-compatible systems (1990); helped establish Windows dominance.

WorldWideWeb (World Wide Web browser)

Tim Berners-Lee’s first web browser (1990) and browser technology for accessing the Web.

Mosaic

Early widely used web browser that popularized graphical access to the Web.

Internet / TCP/IP

Network of networks; TCP/IP protocol suite enables interconnection and data routing (birth of Internet: 1983).

Email

Electronic mail; first practical networked email implemented on ARPANET (1972).