The Development of ICT
History of the Computer
Pascal, Blaise
Born: Auvergne, France, June 19, 1623
Died: Paris, France, August 19, 1662
He discovered that the sum of the angles of a triangle are two right angles and, when his father found out, he relented and allowed Blaise a copy of Euclid.
Pascal invented the first digital calculator to help his father with his work collecting taxes. He worked on it for three years between 1642 and 1645. The device, called the Pascaline, resembled a mechanical calculator of the 1940s. This, almost certainly, makes Pascal the second person to invent a mechanical calculator for Schickard had manufactured one in 1624.
His last work was on the cycloid, the curve traced by a point on the circumference of a rolling circle. In 1658 Pascal started to think about mathematical problems again as he lay awake at night unable to sleep for pain. He applied Cavalieri's calculus of indivisibles to the problem of the area of any segment of the cycloid and the centre of gravity of any segment. He also solved the problems of the volume and surface area of the solid of revolution formed by rotating the cycloid about the x-axis.
Pascal died at the age of 39 in intense pain after a malignant growth in his stomach spread to the brain.
Ada Byron, Countess
Born: London, England, December 10, 1815
Died: London, England, November 27, 1852
Ada Byron was born in London, England. Four months later, Byron left England forever. Ada never met her father. Her life was shown as a struggle between emotion and reason, subjectivism and objectivism, poetics and mathematics, illness and bursts of energy.
One of the male scientists of the time was to become Ada's lifelong friend. Charles Babbage, Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge, he made the Difference Engine, a calculating machine that used the method of finite differences. Ada met Babbage in 1833, when she was just 17, and they had written many letters about the topics of mathematics, logic, and all other subjects. Ada died of cancer in 1852, at the age of 37, and was buried near the father she never knew. Her work help to science were used only recently, but many new biographies show truth to the interesting and love of Babbage's “Enchantress of Numbers”. Her late life. She died in London. She was only 37 year old.
Babbage, Charles
Born: London, England, December 26, 1791
Died: London, England, October 18, 1871
Charles Babbage was born in London on December 26, 1791, the son of Benjamin Babbage, a London banker.
Babbage’s Difference Engine No.1 was the first successful automatic calculator and remains one of the finest examples of precision engineering of the time. Babbage is sometimes referred to as "father of computing." The Charles Babbage Foundation took his name to honor his intellectual contributions and their relation to modern computers.
Despite his many achievements, the failure to construct his calculating machines, and in particular the failure of the government to support his work, left Babbage in his declining years a disappointed and embittered man. He died at his home in London on October 18, 1871.
Von Neumann, John
Born: Budapest, Hungary, June 28, 1903
Died: Washington D.C., USA, Feb 8, 1957
Von Neumann John was born in Budapest, Hungary. Son of a rich Jewish banker. John was lecturer at the University of Berlin, Germany in 1926-29 and at the University of Hamburg, Germany in 1929-30. At this time he worked on quantum physics and operator theory, because of his work, quantum physics and operator theory can be seen as two parts of the same area of study. He helped in the development of the atomic and hydrogen bombs and became a member of the Atomic Energy Commission (1955).
In computer theory, he did a lot of the new research work in logical design, in the problem of getting reliable answers from a machine with not reliable components, the function of "memory," machine imitation of "randomness," and the problem of constructing automata that can reproduce their own kind. He died at his home in Washington, USA. He was only 54 year old.
Noyce, Robert
Born: Iowa, USA, Dec 12, 1927
Died: Austin, Texas, USA, June 3, 1990
Robert was born in Iowa, USA. Noyne Robert founded Fairchild Semiconductor Corp and Intel Corp. He helped to created a new industry when he developed the technology that would become the microchip. He is one of the original computer enterprisers, he founded two companies. It has helped to improve today’s computers Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel. By 1968, Fairchild Semiconductor, now very important in the Semiconductor industry, became a large company with many areas and it has made the people who set it up wealthy men, many of them left the company to start business of their own. In 1988, he became president of Sematech, with a government research group designed to help develop new manufacturing technologies for American chip makers. He became an ardent lobbyisy on benalf of the US Semiconductor. He was working to prevent the acquisition of a silicon valley by a Japanese concern. He died unexpectedly of a heart attack in June 1990, at his home in Austin, Texas, USA. He was only 62 years old.
Bill Gates
Bill Gates made a huge impact on the world of computers. He developed a system where computers use a GUI (Graphic User Interface) called windows. He started this in 1983.
Before then people used DOS (Disk Operation System) which people needed to understand, to be able to operate a computer.
Windows made a huge change to who could use computers, as you no longer needed to understand computer language.
Now children in the older generation can learn simple technology and work on computers.
This has made the sale of computers and of course windows into a Multi Million Dollar industry.
Computers have changed in a big way over the last ten years it has had an impact on our lives, for example:
PC’s have made lots of changes in the world by becoming smaller and cheaper the same effect has been seen in the development of laptops and Palm held PC’s also the improvement in the use of Pentium processors are helping make big developments.
Home
Children and adults who use computers for games also they type up homework assignment. People buy on line this help disabled people – buy from supermarkets to holidays. They can sort out bank details move money to different accounts and pay bills.
It is helpful for people who have their own businesses and can work from home saving on travel and time to get work done. Sending e-mail, to customers or other colleagues and using the Internet to find information needed for their business or just for people who need word-processors, spread sheets etc. for their work.
Businesses
Laptops are now used a lot for working whilst travelling on trains plants etc or business meetings. Palm PC type can be used like a file a fax. And can be carried in a pocket. Digital cameras take better pictures and can be sent via email this means information can be sent quickly, PowerPoint presentations.
People working in big businesses have to sometimes write reports with graphs and pictures etc. The use of a computer is a great help especially when mistakes are made. These can be corrected so much easier compared to hand written work
“Thank god for computers”
Schools & Colleges
Universities put courses on line and provide access to libraries which means students can learn from home at times more convenient or whilst working full time.
Access to the Internet allows research into lots of areas more easily and to become familiar with using computers. Much neater better school or college work. When Pupils / Students do not know how to use a computer like “learners” in the computer world. This would start them off ready to think about a future in computers or at least to become computer illiterate.
Industry
CAD provide accurate clear drawings these there can also be 3D and you can view different angles.
CNC machines can be tooled up with many different operations and can be machined to correct tolerance quickly.
Industries now use robots, which help with the production of cars. For the factory owners this is great as robots work 24hrs a day without a break or they do not get old like people so more cars can be made.
Although there are different views on computers we need to think can we live without them, are we able to live without them?
Really we could not live without computers as they have become a drug that can’t be ignored, we can’t ignore impact of Technology.
To be without computers would be like living in the stone ages.
Conclusions
I have found a lot of information about the development of ICT, history of computers, graph and charts, images and the importance of people involved in past and present developments within the last 10 years. I have found all this information on the Internet.
I found it hard to find the information about the development of ICT, history of computers and the importance of people involved in the development over the years.
I found all the information about the development of ICT.
Before I thought it was boring and I became more interested because when I started this assignment I did not realise the impact that computers had. I now understand the developments of computers because it has made technology worldwide easily accessible to everyone and I now have a better understanding of computers.
Appendix
- All Information from Internet about the people involved in, and the History of Computers.
- Changes made to English by C.S.W. (proof reading)
Bibliography
All information form Internet.
www.etforecasts.com/products/ES_cinusev2.htm
(Graphs & charts, Date: 11/11/02).
www.digitalcentury.com/encyclo/update/noyce.html
(Biography’s person, Date: 30/10/02).
www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0857507.html
(Information about development of computer, Date: 28/10/02).
www.santafe.edu/~shalizi/notebooks/von-neumann.html
(Biography’s person, Date: 18/10/02).
www.sdsc.edu/ScienceWomen/lovelace.html
(Biography’s person, Date: 18/10/02).
www.cbi.umn.edu/exhibits/cb.html
(Biography’s person, Date: 19/10/02).
www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Pascal.html
(Biography’s person, Date: 19/10/02).