Who Invented Computers?
Most recent answer: 10/22/2007
Q:
When were computers invented? How were computers invented? Who invented computers? etc...
- susan
houston,tx,usa
- susan
houston,tx,usa
A:
Susan -
"Computers" have been around for a very, very long time. But the definition of what makes something a computer has changed a great deal. And the progress made on developing computers was made by many many people, not just one "inventor". There are many people out there who would say that the first "computer" was the abacus, invented in Asia about 5000 years ago. But somehow I doubt that this is what you're looking for, so let's look a little more recently...
As time went on, there were a number of special devices invented to help with things like tax collecting, taking the census, etc. At first, these were purely mechanical, but by the start of the twentieth century, they were run by steam.
The first of the "modern" computers was invented during World War II, in 1941 by a German engineer named Konrad Zuse. The computer was called the Z3 and was used to help design German airplanes and missiles. A couple years later, in 1943, the Allied forces developed a computer called Colossus to help decode German messages. But since the Z3 was developed by the side that lost the war and Colossus stayed a military secret for many years, these computers didn't contribute much to the ones that came next.
Independent of the Colossus project, the next computer was the Mark I, designed by Howard H. Aiken, an engineer working with Harvard and IBM. The Mark I was positively huge, taking up half of a football field, but it helped to create ballistic charts for the US Navy during the war. Shortly after this, though, came the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), developed by John Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly, working with the government and the University of Pennsylvania. ENIAC was a lot like the Mark I, except that it ran about 1000 times faster.
Moving along, there were other computers like EDVAC (1945), UNIVAC I (1951), etc. But all these computers had something in common with the older computers - they were designed for a specific purpose and couldn't really be used for anything else. They also all worked by using vacuum tubes, which is what made them take up so much space. The invention of the transistor in 1947 by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley at Bell Labs made the big difference from here.
Using transistors, computers came around that could store memory and even run programs. Soon they even had computer languages so that people could change the programs run by the computer when they wanted to. After a while, the focus on computer research came to be on making them smaller, giving us the kinds of computers that we have today.
For some great resources with a lot more detailed information, check out these links:
- Lots of information starting all the way back in Asia all the way through artificial intelligence, all with great explanations.
- possibly even better than the last one!
-Tamara
"Computers" have been around for a very, very long time. But the definition of what makes something a computer has changed a great deal. And the progress made on developing computers was made by many many people, not just one "inventor". There are many people out there who would say that the first "computer" was the abacus, invented in Asia about 5000 years ago. But somehow I doubt that this is what you're looking for, so let's look a little more recently...
As time went on, there were a number of special devices invented to help with things like tax collecting, taking the census, etc. At first, these were purely mechanical, but by the start of the twentieth century, they were run by steam.
The first of the "modern" computers was invented during World War II, in 1941 by a German engineer named Konrad Zuse. The computer was called the Z3 and was used to help design German airplanes and missiles. A couple years later, in 1943, the Allied forces developed a computer called Colossus to help decode German messages. But since the Z3 was developed by the side that lost the war and Colossus stayed a military secret for many years, these computers didn't contribute much to the ones that came next.
Independent of the Colossus project, the next computer was the Mark I, designed by Howard H. Aiken, an engineer working with Harvard and IBM. The Mark I was positively huge, taking up half of a football field, but it helped to create ballistic charts for the US Navy during the war. Shortly after this, though, came the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), developed by John Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly, working with the government and the University of Pennsylvania. ENIAC was a lot like the Mark I, except that it ran about 1000 times faster.
Moving along, there were other computers like EDVAC (1945), UNIVAC I (1951), etc. But all these computers had something in common with the older computers - they were designed for a specific purpose and couldn't really be used for anything else. They also all worked by using vacuum tubes, which is what made them take up so much space. The invention of the transistor in 1947 by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley at Bell Labs made the big difference from here.
Using transistors, computers came around that could store memory and even run programs. Soon they even had computer languages so that people could change the programs run by the computer when they wanted to. After a while, the focus on computer research came to be on making them smaller, giving us the kinds of computers that we have today.
For some great resources with a lot more detailed information, check out these links:
- Lots of information starting all the way back in Asia all the way through artificial intelligence, all with great explanations.
- possibly even better than the last one!
-Tamara
(published on 10/22/2007)
Follow-Up #1: Turing machines
Q:
RE: Q & A: Who invented computers?
your answer about who invented computers missed out the biggest elephant in the room. Alan Turing invented the fundamental concept of computing and artificial intelligence. Without his invention, we won't have any of our computer today.
jas
- jasonbrus@yahoo.com (age 55)
seattle wa
- jasonbrus@yahoo.com (age 55)
seattle wa
A:
Good point. It's interesting to speculate on how far people would have gotten how fast in practical computing efforts without a theoretical framework. However, most of the development Tamara described occurred after Turing had developed the modern framework, showing that all the logical operations of a digital computer could be constructed from a small set. i.e. performed by a universal machine.
Mike W.
Mike W.
(published on 12/30/2011)
Follow-Up #2: Babbage's machine
Q:
Ask an American who invented something and the the answer, of course, will be an American. The correct answer however is Charles Babbage. An Englishman.I thank you.
- Dr RI McLachlan (age 46)
Manchester
- Dr RI McLachlan (age 46)
Manchester
A:
I have to agree with you that Charles Babbage's invention (difference engine, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Difference_engine) is of quite much of importance and is widely accepted as the "father of the computer" by many if not all historians. That is not a digital computer, it is a mechanical one. However, it can compute algorithmically.
Our website is run by a multinational team of volunteers dedicated to provide public with impartial information as much as possible. Unintended mistakes may sometimes happen. Nevertheless, I believe a quick look at Tamara's original answer, where she attributes the first modern computer to a German engineer named Konrad Zuse could change your opinion.
Tunc
(published on 10/09/2015)