History of Computer in World (including Nepal)
Introduction :
In early days, there were no facilities to count and calculate. People, at that time used different means to count in informal way such as using pebbles for counting, drawing lines, scratching on walls etc. As there is saying, necessity is the mother of invention. The saying holds true for computers also; computers were invented because of human in search for fast and accurate calculating devices. We know that, the history of computer begins from the counting or computations. There is a great contribution of scientists, mathematicians, philosophers, engineers and many organizations to bring the computer at present stage. The historical development of computer can be categorized
in three distinct eras. They are:
A. Mechanical era:
This was the era in which several mechanical devices were used for the purpose of counting and computing manually.The devices developed in this era became the basis for the invention of electromechanical devices or electromechanical computers. This era is called mechanical era because the machines were based on moving parts, operated completely by machines and they did not have any logical control in operation. The major inventions of this era are discussed below in terms of different calculating devices. They are:
- ABACUS (Before 2500 to 3000 years ago): Abacus was one of the first mechanical calculating device which was developed by Chinese, Russian or Egyptian before 2500 to 3000 years ago. Abacus consists of a rectangular frame carrying number of rods and coils along with beads. It is divided into two parts upper part known as heaven and lower part known as earth which are seperated by mid bar. The heaven consists of two beads and the earth consist of five beads. Sliding the beads towards or away from the central bar, the calculation was performed. It is still used in some part of the world such as Asia, Greece, Egypt and China.
- Napier's Bone (1617 AD): The Napier's Bone also known as Napier's Rod was invented by Scottish mathematician John Napier in 1617 AD. Each bones on this device consisted of set of ten vertical rectangular rods. These rods correspond to the digits 0-9 and special eleventh rod is used to represent the multiplier. Napier's Bone was very much useful for finding multiplication at that time.
- Slide Rule (1620 AD): The slide rule was discovered by English mathematician, William Oughtred, In 1620 AD. It was an analog device of that time. There are two movable graduated scales in which one scale slides or slips upon the other. This device is easy to use to find the product, quotient or any other functions simply viewing on the scales. It was used by engineers for multiplication and division.
- Pascaline (1642 AD): In 1642 AD, the French mathematician, Blaise Pascal invented a first true mechanical calculating device called Pascaline. It is also considered as first mechanical calculator which could do addition and subtraction directly. The basic principle of this calculator is still used in water meters and modern-day odometers. In late 1960's, Niklaus Writh of ZUrich developed a programming language PASCAL on the honor of Blaise Pascal for his great contribution.
- Leibniz Calculating Machine (1671 AD): In 1671, a German mathematician Gottfried Wilhem Von Leibniz invented a calculating machine called Leibniz Calculating Machine. It was also known as stepped recknor which was based on the principle and idea of Pascaline. The Stepped Reckoner could perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It could find out even square root also.
- Jacquard's Loom: In 1801 AD, a French silk weaver Joseph Marie Jacquard invented an automatic weaving machine called Jacquard's loom. The loom used punched card for intricate design and produce certain pattern in the woven cloth. The function of loom was dependent upon the presence of hole or absence of holes on the punched card.
- Charles Babbage (Father of Computer Science): Charles Babbage was born in 1791 AD, in United Kingdom. He was the professor of mathematics at Cambridge University as well the creative thinkers of nineteenth century. He invented difference engine and analytical engine which became the milestone for the development of modern computers. He is also known as the father of computer science because he had led to the foundation of modern computer in his analytical engine including the concept of input, processing, output and storage. He also kept the concept of using binary digits in his machine.
- Difference Engine (in 1822): Charles Babbage invented the Difference Engine in 1822 which was able to compute tables of numbers, such as logarithm tables. Charles Babbage obtained government funding for this project due to the importance of numeric tables in ocean navigation. The difference engine was capable to perform calculations, store program and display the result automatically. However, Babbage never quite made a fully functional Difference Engine due to the lack of required technology and resources.
- Analytical Engine (in 1833): In 1833, Charles Babbage developed general purpose fully programmable calculating device called Analytical Engine. The device was able to perform calculations and store the result. The Analytical Engine was based on the principle of Input, Processing and output. It also used binary number system for its operation. The modern digital computers are based on the same principle.
- Lady Augusta Ada Lovelace (First Programmer): Lady Augusta Ada Lovelace was the student of Charles Babbage at Cambridge University as well the daughter of great English poet Lord Byron.She gave the idea of using binary number system to Charles Babbage in his analytical engine. She also operated the Analytical Engine for the first time therefore, she is considered as the first computer programmer in the computer history.
- Herman's Tabulating Machine (in 1887): Dr.Herman Hollerlth an American census statistician invented the punched card tabulating machine in 1887. His device could automatically read census information which had been punched onto the card. As a result of his invention, reading errors were greatly reduced, work flow was increased. It was the first machine to make practical use of punched cards on data processing.
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B. Electromechanical era:
This was the era in which the parts of computers were electronic and mechanical based. This era was the outcome of mechanical era so that the computational devices were partly programmable. Scientists discovered electrical charges as a way to represent data in this period. For the first time, electricity was used to operate the computers but computers still had many mechanical components. Programming in computer did not involve using the software. Since the both electrical and mechanical components were used in this era is known as electromechanical era. The major inventions of this era are discussed below.
- Mark-1:
- It used 18000 vaccum tubes.
- It consisted seven Lakh and Fifty thousand parts.
- It was 51 feet long, 8 feet height and 3 feet wide.
- It consumed huge amount of electricity.
- Atnasoff Berry Computer (ABC):
1939 AD. This computer was designed and developed for the purpose of solving simultaneous equations. The following are the major features of ABC :
- The concept of Boolean algebra was applied in designing the circuits.
- It used 18000 vaccum tubes and other 45 volves for internal logic.
- It used capacitors for internal storage of electrical charge.
- It was appropriate for solving only one type of mathematical problem.
C. Electronic era :
This is the modern era of computer in which mechanical devices were replaced by fully electronic circuits, so that calculations were based on digital mechanism. The development of this era is the result of specific technology, people and motivation. The major inventions of this era are :
- ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator):
- It used decimal number system for the calculation.
- It consisted of 18000 vaccum tubes and 70000 registers.
- It was very much faster than any other devices invented at that time.
- It was huge in size so occupied more than 15,000 square feet.
- EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer):
- EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer):
- UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer):
History of Computer in Nepal:
There is no any remarkable contribution of Nepal for the development of computer. Nepal has lately entered in the computer age. The first computer IBM 1401 (a second generation mainframe computer) was brought in Nepal for the census of 2028 B.S. This computer completed the census of 2028 B.S. in 1 year 7 months. In 2031 B.S. His Majesty's government established a seperate branch named Data Processing Center for the electronic data processing purpose. Later in 2037 B.S it was named as National Computer Center which used to provide necessary training and technical support to the government and private levels. The ICL2950/10 (better fourth generation mainframe computer) was brought from United Kingdom for the census of 2038 B.S with the aid of UNDP and UNFPA. This machine processed the census quite faster. After 2039 B.S microcomputers such as apple, vector, Sirus, IBM etc were imported in Nepal by private companies.
Meanwhile, Government has formed High level Commission for Information Technology (HLCIT) under the chairmanship of prime minister. IT (Information Technology) policy was also formulated in 2057 and reviewed in 2067 later. To legalize the electronic transaction and control the cyber crimes, Government of Nepal also released Cyber Law in 2061 B.S and reviewed in 2063 B.S. The private level organizations are also playing a key role for the development of ICT in the country.
To be Continued..........
*The End*
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