Computer History Myths Debunked

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Computer History Myths Debunked

• Dr. Wayne Summers
• TSYS Department of Computer Science Columbus
  State University

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"History of Computing at Oxford"

• Part of the CSU in Oxford Summer Program with
  field trips to sites around England (July 6-July
  25, 2007).

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COURSE

• Book   Jacquard's Web How a Hand-Loom Led to
  the Birth of the Information Age by James
  Essinger
• Wiki http//computer-history.pbwiki.com/
• Blog http//computer-history-csu.blogspot.com/
• Field Trips
• Videos
• The Machine That Changed the World(1-5)
• To Dream Tomorrow

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Field Trips

• Oxford Museum of History of Science
• London Museum of Science
• Bletchley Park
• Manchester Museum of Science and Industry

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The Myths

• Myth 1 Joseph-Marie Jacquard invented the
  punched card
• Myth 2 Charles Babbage built the first computer
• Myth 3 The Difference Engine was not completed
  because of inadequate tools in the 19th Century
  and/or lack of funds
• Myth 4 Ada Lovelace was the first computer
  programmer
• Myth 5 Herman Hollerith independently
  invented the punch cards
• Myth 6 Howard Aiken and other computer
  designers of the modern era were not influenced
  by Babbage

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Myth 1 Joseph-Marie Jacquard invented the
punched card

• On 23 Dec. 1800, he registered a patent for a
  machine designed to replace the draw-boy in the
  manufacture of figured fabrics.
• Jacques de Vaucanson is credited with creating
  the world's first true robots, as well as
  creating the first completely automated loom
  (1740).
• In 1728, Jean Falcon built a loom that used
  punched cards
• In 1725, Basile Bouchon invented a way to control
  a loom with a perforated paper tape. The son of
  an organ maker, he adapted the concept of music
  automata controlled by pegged cylinders to the
  repetitive task of weaving.

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Jacquards Loom

• London Museum of Science

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Myth 2 Charles Babbage built the first computer

• Charles Babbage did design the Difference Engine
  and the Analytical Engine (neither were completed
  by him)
• My God, Herschel! How I wish these calculations
  could be executed by steam.1821
• In 1824, Babbage won the Gold Medal of the Royal
  Astronomical Society "for his invention of an
  engine for calculating mathematical and
  astronomical tables".

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London Museum of Science

• Babbages Difference Engine (1822-1849) original
  piece
• 2/3 of Babbages Brain

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Myth 3 The Difference Engine was not completed
because of inadequate tools in the 19th Century
and/or lack of funds

• Babbage had access to one of the best toolmakers
  of the day Joseph Clement who did build a small
  prototype by 1822
• Per Georg Scheutz and son built a small
  difference engine machine in 1843
• Difference Engine in the London Science Museum
  was built to Babbages specs with 19th century
  tools (1985-1991)

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London Museum of Science

• Per Georg Scheutzs Difference Engine
• Recreation of Difference Engine for shipment to
  California (2007)

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Myth 3 The Difference Engine was not completed
because of inadequate tools in the 19th Century
and/or lack of funds

• By 1834, he had received 17,470 (enough to build
  two battleships) to build the Difference Engine,
  but starting to design the Analytical Engine
• By 1834, he had started work on the Analytical
  Engine (using punched cards to store data and
  instructions was able to perform calculations
  automatically)
• Told Sir Robert Peel that he had stopped work on
  the Difference Engine so that he could build the
  Analytical Engine

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Charles Babbage Father of Computing

• 1791 - 1871
• formed the Analytical Society in 1812
• Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge
  (1828 to 1839)

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Charles Babbage Father of Computing

• On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr.
  Babbage," if you put into the machine wrong
  figures, will the right "answers come out?" In
  one case a member of the Upper, and in the other
  a member of the Lower, House put this question. I
  am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of
  confusion of ideas that could provoke such a
  question.

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Charles Babbage Father of Computing

• Counted all the broken panes of glass of a
  factory, publishing in 1857 a "Table of the
  Relative Frequency of the Causes of Breakage of
  Plate Glass Windows" 14 of 464 were caused by
  "drunken men, women or boys".
• His distaste for commoners ("the Mob") included
  writing "Observations of Street Nuisances" in
  1864, as well as tallying up 165 "nuisances" over
  a period of 80 days he especially hated street
  music.
• Obsessed with fire, once baking himself in an
  oven at 265F (130C) for four minutes "without
  any great discomfort" to "see what would happen."
  
• Later, he arranged to be lowered into Mount
  Vesuvius in order to view molten lava for himself.

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Myth 4 Ada Lovelace was the first computer
programmer

• Analytical Engine was never built
• Published a translation of Menabreas paper
  describing the Analytical Engine along with her
  own seven Notes (A-G) (1842-1843)
• http//www.fourmilab.ch/babbage/sketch.html

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Myth 5 Herman Hollerith independently
invented the punch cards

• His brother-in-law was in the silk-weaving
  business and had discussed the Jacquard loom with
  him
• Hollerith never pretended to have invented
  punched cards himself Essinger
• His basic patents always encompassed the use of
  punched cards in combination with his machines
  Essinger

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Myth 6 Howard Aiken and other computer
designers of the modern era were not influenced
by Babbage
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Which was the first computer?

• Difference Engine (1843) / Analytical Engine
• AtanasoffBerry Computer (1937-1941)
• Zuses Z3 (1941)
• Collusus (1943-1944)
• Eniac (1943-1946)
• IBM Harvard Mark I (1944)
• Manchester Baby (1948) / Mark I

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Babbages Difference Engine II with printer
(built 1991)

• London Museum of Science

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Analytical Engine piece (designed 1837-1871)

• London Museum of Science

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Colossus

• Bletchley Park

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Manchester Baby Replica

• Manchester Museum of Science and Industry

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Trick question

• What was the average weight of a computer in the
  early 1940s?

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• If the Analytical Engine had been built, it would
  have been in many ways more advanced than some of
  the first computers that emerged in the 1940s. It
  would have been digital, programmable and Turing
  complete.
• However, it would have been very slow. Ada
  Lovelace reported in her notes on the Analytical
  engine "Mr. Babbage believes he can, by his
  engine, form the product of two numbers, each
  containing twenty figures, in three minutes".
• By comparison the Harvard Mark I could perform
  the same task in just six seconds. A modern PC
  can do the same thing in well under a billionth
  of a second.

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References

• Jacquard's Web How a Hand-Loom Led to the Birth
  of the Information Age by James Essinger
• Sketch of The Analytical Engine With notes by the
  Translator Ada Augusta, Countess Of Lovelace
• History of Modern Computing by Paul Ceruzzi
• The Machine That Changed the World(1-5) PBS
  Nova videos
• To Dream Tomorrow Flare Productions video
• .

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We may say most aptly that the Analytical Engine
weaves algebraic patterns just as the
Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves. Ada
Augusta, Countess Of Lovelace (October 1842)