History of computing hardware: Difference between revisions

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{{Main|Analytical Engine}}

[[File:Difference engine plate 1853.jpg|thumb|A portion of [[Charles Babbage|Babbage]]'s [[Difference Engine]] ]][[File:AnalyticalMachine Babbage London.jpg|thumb|left|Trial model of a part of the Analytical Engine, built by Babbage, as displayed at the Science Museum, London]]

The '''Industrial Revolution''' (late 18th to early 19th century) had a significant impact on the evolution of computing hardware, as the era's rapid advancements in machinery and manufacturing laid the groundwork for mechanized and automated computing. Industrial needs for precise, large-scale calculations—especially in fields such as navigation, engineering, and finance—prompted innovations in both design and function, setting the stage for devices like '''Charles Babbage's Difference Engine''' (1822).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Babbage |first=Charles |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139103671 |title=Passages from the Life of a Philosopher |date=2011-10-12 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9781139103671 |isbn=978-1-108-03788-4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Babbage |first=Charles |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511696374 |title=On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures |date=2010-03-04 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511696374 |isbn=978-1-108-00910-2}}</ref> This mechanical device was intended to automate the calculation of polynomial functions and represented one of the earliest applications of computational logic.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hutton |first=D.M. |date=2002-08-01 |title=The Difference Engine: Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First Computer |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/k.2002.06731fae.009 |journal=Kybernetes |volume=31 |issue=6 |doi=10.1108/k.2002.06731fae.009 |issn=0368-492X}}</ref>

Babbage, often regarded as the "father of the computer," envisioned a fully mechanical system of gears and wheels, powered by steam, capable of handling complex calculations that previously required intensive manual labor.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tropp |first=Henry S. |date=December 1975-12 |title=<i>The Origins of Digital Computers: Selected Papers</i>. Brian Randell |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/351520 |journal=Isis |volume=66 |issue=4 |pages=572–573 |doi=10.1086/351520 |issn=0021-1753}}</ref> His Difference Engine, designed to aid navigational calculations, ultimately led him to conceive the '''Analytical Engine''' in 1833.<ref>{{Cite journal |lastlast1=W. |firstfirst1=J. W. |last2=Hyman |first2=Anthony |date=April 1986-04 |title=Charles Babbage, Pioneer of the Computer. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2008013 |journal=Mathematics of Computation |volume=46 |issue=174 |pages=759 |doi=10.2307/2008013 |jstor=2008013 |issn=0025-5718}}</ref> This concept, far more advanced than his Difference Engine, included an '''arithmetic logic unit''', control flow through conditional branching and loops, and integrated memory.<ref>{{Cite journalbook |lastlast1=Campbell-Kelly |firstfirst1=Martin |last2=Aspray |first2=William |last3=Ensmenger |first3=Nathan |last4=Yost |first4=Jeffrey R. |date=2018-04-20 |title=Computer |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429495373 |doi=10.4324/9780429495373|isbn=978-0-429-49537-3 }}</ref> Babbage’s plans made his Analytical Engine the first general-purpose design that could be described as '''Turing-complete''' in modern terms.<ref>{{Citation |last=Turing |first=Alan |title=Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950) |date=2004-09-09 |work=The Essential Turing |pages=433–464 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198250791.003.0017 |access-date=2024-10-30 |publisher=Oxford University PressOxford |doi=10.1093/oso/9780198250791.003.0017 |isbn=978-0-19-825079-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journalbook |last=Davis |first=Martin |date=2018-02-28 |title=the Universal Computer |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1201/9781315144726 |doi=10.1201/9781315144726|isbn=978-1-315-14472-6 }}</ref>

The '''Analytical Engine''' was programmed using '''punched cards''', a method adapted from the Jacquard loom invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804, which controlled textile patterns with a sequence of punched cards.<ref>{{Cite journal |lastlast1=d'Ucel |firstfirst1=Jeanne |last2=Dib |first2=Mohammed |date=1958 |title=Le métier à tisser |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/40098349 |journal=Books Abroad |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=278 |doi=10.2307/40098349 |jstor=40098349 |issn=0006-7431}}</ref> These cards became foundational in later computing systems as well.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Heide |first=Lars |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/book.3454 |title=Punched-Card Systems and the Early Information Explosion, 1880–1945 |date=2009 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |doi=10.1353/book.3454 |isbn=978-0-8018-9143-4}}</ref> Babbage’s machine would have featured multiple output devices, including a printer, a curve plotter, and even a bell, demonstrating his ambition for versatile computational applications beyond simple arithmetic.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bromley |first=A.G. |date=1998 |title=Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, 1838 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/85.728228 |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=29–45 |doi=10.1109/85.728228 |issn=1058-6180}}</ref>

'''Ada Lovelace''' expanded on Babbage’s vision by conceptualizing algorithms that could be executed by his machine.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Toole |first=Betty Alexandra |date=March 1991-03 |title=Ada, an analyst and a metaphysician |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/122028.122031 |journal=ACM SIGAda Ada Letters |volume=XI |issue=2 |pages=60–71 |doi=10.1145/122028.122031 |issn=1094-3641}}</ref> Her notes on the Analytical Engine, written in the 1840s, are now recognized as the earliest examples of computer programming.<ref>{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Howard |firstfirst1=Emily |last2=De Roure |first2=David |date=2015 |title=Turning numbers into notes |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2867731.2867746 |journal=Ada Lovelace Symposium 2015- Celebrating 200 Years of a Computer Visionary on - Ada Lovelace Symposium '15 |___location=New York, New York, USA |publisher=ACM Press |pages=13 |doi=10.1145/2867731.2867746|isbn=978-1-4503-4150-9 }}</ref> Lovelace saw potential in computers to go beyond numerical calculations, predicting that they might one day generate complex musical compositions or perform tasks like language processing.<ref>{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Haugtvedt |firstfirst1=Erica |last2=Abata |first2=Duane |title=Ada Lovelace: First Computer Programmer and Hacker? |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.18260/1-2--36646 |journal=2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings |date=2021 |publisher=ASEE Conferences |doi=10.18260/1-2--36646}}</ref>

Though Babbage’s designs were never fully realized due to technical and financial challenges, they influenced a range of subsequent developments in computing hardware. Notably, in the 1890s, '''Herman Hollerith''' adapted the idea of punched cards for automated data processing, which was utilized in the U.S. Census and sped up data tabulation significantly, bridging industrial machinery with data processing.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Blodgett |first=John H. |title=Herman Hollerith, data processing pioneer |date=1968 |publisher=Drexel University Libraries |doi=10.17918/00004750 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.17918/00004750}}</ref>

The Industrial Revolution’s advancements in mechanical systems demonstrated the potential for machines to conduct complex calculations, influencing engineers like '''Leonardo Torres Quevedo''' and '''Vannevar Bush''' in the early 20th century. Torres Quevedo designed an electromechanical machine with floating-point arithmetic<ref>{{Citation |last=Torres y Quevedo |first=Leonardo |title=Essays on Automatics |date=1982 |work=The Origins of Digital Computers |pages=89–107 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-61812-3_6 |access-date=2024-10-30 |place=Berlin, Heidelberg |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-61812-3_6 |isbn=978-3-642-61814-7}}</ref>, while Bush’s later work explored electronic digital computing.<ref>{{Citation |title=6 Vannevar Bush, from “As"As We May Think”Think" (1945) |date=2021 |work=Information |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7312/hayo18620-032 |access-date=2024-10-30 |publisher=Columbia University Press |doi=10.7312/hayo18620-032 |isbn=978-0-231-54654-6}}</ref> By the mid-20th century, these innovations paved the way for the first fully electronic computers.<ref>{{Cite book |lastlast1=Haigh |firstfirst1=Thomas |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/11436.001.0001 |title=A New History of Modern Computing |last2=Ceruzzi |first2=Paul E. |date=2021-09-14 |publisher=The MIT Press |doi=10.7551/mitpress/11436.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-262-36648-9}}</ref>

==Analog computers==