PowerPoint 1.3

What does the term digital refer to?

The calculation of numbers using an electronic device or system.

When were computers integrated into radiology?

Starting in the 1970s with CT.

Which imaging modalities followed CT in computer integration?

MRI, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, and radiography.

What was the first recorded tallying system?

The Sumerian tally system about 5000 years ago.

What was the Chinese bead abacus?

A counting and math system using sliding beads.

What was the Incan quipu?

A rope with knots used for recording information.

Who built the first mechanical calculator?

Gottfried Leibniz.

What was the Step Reckoner?

A mechanical calculator performing addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

How did the Step Reckoner work?

Using rotating drums called Leibniz wheels.

Who designed the first automatic digital computer?

Charles Babbage.

What was the Analytical Engine?

A programmable machine with a mill, store, reader, and printer.

Why was the Analytical Engine never completed?

Technological and financial limitations.

Who created the tabulation machine?

Herman Hollerith.

What was Hollerith’s machine used for?

Processing U.S. Census data.

What company did Hollerith’s company become?

IBM.

What was Colossus?

The first programmable electronic computer (1943).

What was Colossus used for?

Breaking the German Lorenz cipher in WWII.

What was ENIAC?

The first general-purpose electronic digital computer (1945).

What was ENIAC designed to compute?

Artillery firing tables.

How was ENIAC programmed?

Using switches and plugboards.

What were two characteristics of ENIAC?

Weighed 30 tons and used 18,000 vacuum tubes.

What did early computers use to process data?

Vacuum tubes and electrical switches.

Why were vacuum tubes inefficient?

They were large, used much power, and generated heat.

What replaced vacuum tubes?

Transistors.

What does a transistor do?

Acts as an electronic switch controlling current.

Why are transistors superior to vacuum tubes?

They are much smaller and more efficient.

What are hardware components?

Physical parts of a computer you can see and touch.

What is software?

Applications and programs used to manipulate data.

What is computer language based on?

Binary code.

What is a binary system?

A system based on 0 and 1.

Why is binary used in computers?

Because transistors function as on (1) or off (0) switches.

What is a bit?

A single binary digit (0 or 1).

What is a byte?

8 bits combined (2^8 possibilities).

What does 10-bit dynamic range mean in digital imaging?

The image can display 2^10 or 1,024 gray values.

What is an operating system (OS)?

A major program that organizes the computer.

What do assemblers do?

Translate programs into machine language.

What do compilers and interpreters do?

Translate high-level language into machine code.

What is a bootstrap program?

A program that initializes the operating system.

What was the first programming language?

FORTRAN (1956).

What was COBOL used for?

Business applications.

What was BASIC known for?

A simple programming language popularized by Microsoft.

What is Java?

A modern web application and development language.