Computing: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:09, 12 July 2025

Revision as of 20:14, 25 July 2025

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The first recorded proposal for using digital electronics in computing was the 1931 paper "The Use of Thyratrons for High Speed Automatic Counting of Physical Phenomena" by [[C. E. Wynn-Williams]].<ref>{{Citation | last = Wynn-Williams | first = C. E. | author-link = C. E. Wynn-Williams | title = The Use of Thyratrons for High Speed Automatic Counting of Physical Phenomena | journal = [[Proceedings of the Royal Society A]] | volume = 132 | issue = 819 | pages = 295–310 | date = 2 July 1931 | doi = 10.1098/rspa.1931.0102 |bibcode = 1931RSPSA.132..295W | doi-access = free }}</ref> [[Claude Shannon]]'s 1938 paper "[[A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits]]" then introduced the idea of using electronics for [[Boolean algebra]]ic operations.

The concept of a [[field-effect transistor]] was proposed by [[Julius Edgar Lilienfeld]] in 1925. [[John Bardeen]] and [[Walter Brattain]], while working under [[William Shockley]] at [[Bell Labs]], built the first working [[transistor]], the [[point-contact transistor]], in 1947.<ref name="Lee">{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Thomas H. |title=The Design of CMOS Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuits |date=2003 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9781139643771 |url=https://web.stanford.edu/class/archive/ee/ee214/ee214.1032/Handouts/HO2.pdf |access-date=16 September 2019 |archive-date=9 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209032130/https://web.stanford.edu/class/archive/ee/ee214/ee214.1032/Handouts/HO2.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Puers">{{cite book |last1=Puers |first1=Robert |last2=Baldi |first2=Livio |last3=Voorde |first3=Marcel Van de |last4=Nooten |first4=Sebastiaan E. van |title=Nanoelectronics: Materials, Devices, Applications, 2 Volumes |date=2017 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=9783527340538 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JOqVDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA14}}</ref> In 1953, the [[University of Manchester]] built the first [[transistorized computer]], the [[Manchester Baby]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Lavington|first=Simon|title=A History of Manchester Computers|year=1998|edition=2|publisher=The British Computer Society|___location=Swindon|pages=34–35}}</ref> However, early [[junction transistor]]s were relatively bulky devices that were difficult to mass-produce, which limited them to a number of specialised applications.<ref name="Moskowitz">{{cite book |last1=Moskowitz |first1=Sanford L. |title=Advanced Materials Innovation: Managing Global Technology in the 21st century |date=2016 |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |isbn=9780470508923 |pages=165–167 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2STRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA165}}</ref>

In 1957, Frosch and Derick were able to manufacture the first silicon dioxide field effect transistors at Bell Labs, the first transistors in which drain and source were adjacent at the surface.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Frosch |first1=C. J. |last2=Derick |first2=L |date=1957 |title=Surface Protection and Selective Masking during Diffusion in Silicon |url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/1.2428650 |journal=Journal of the Electrochemical Society |language=en |volume=104 |issue=9 |pages=547 |doi=10.1149/1.2428650|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Subsequently, a team demonstrated a working [[MOSFET]] at Bell Labs 1960.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=KAHNG |first=D. |date=1961 |title=Silicon-Silicon Dioxide Surface Device |url=https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814503464_0076 |journal=Technical Memorandum of Bell Laboratories |pages=583–596 |doi=10.1142/9789814503464_0076 |isbn=978-981-02-0209-5|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lojek |first=Bo |title=History of Semiconductor Engineering |date=2007 |publisher=Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg |isbn=978-3-540-34258-8 |___location=Berlin, Heidelberg |page=321}}</ref> The MOSFET made it possible to build [[very large-scale integration|high-density integrated circuits]],<ref name="computerhistory-transistor">{{cite web |title=Who Invented the Transistor? |url=https://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/who-invented-the-transistor/ |website=[[Computer History Museum]] |date=4 December 2013 |access-date=20 July 2019}}</ref><ref name="Hittinger">{{cite journal |last1=Hittinger |first1=William C. |title=Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Technology |journal=Scientific American |date=1973 |volume=229 |issue=2 |pages=48–59 |issn=0036-8733|jstor=24923169 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0873-48 |bibcode=1973SciAm.229b..48H }}</ref> leading to what is known as the [[computer revolution]]<ref>{{cite book|author1-link=Jerry G. Fossum |last1=Fossum |first1=Jerry G. |last2=Trivedi |first2=Vishal P. |title=Fundamentals of Ultra-Thin-Body MOSFETs and FinFETs |date=2013 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9781107434493 |page=vii |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zZJfAAAAQBAJ&pg=PR7}}</ref> or [[microcomputer revolution]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Malmstadt |first1=Howard V. |last2=Enke |first2=Christie G. |last3=Crouch |first3=Stanley R. |title=Making the Right Connections: Microcomputers and Electronic Instrumentation |date=1994 |publisher=[[American Chemical Society]] |isbn=9780841228610 |page=389 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lyJGAQAAIAAJ |quote=The relative simplicity and low power requirements of MOSFETs have fostered today's microcomputer revolution.}}</ref>

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One area of interest in this field is its potential to support energy efficiency. Allowing thousands of instances of computation to occur on one single machine instead of thousands of individual machines could help save energy. It could also ease the transition to renewable energy source, since it would suffice to power one server farm with renewable energy, rather than millions of homes and offices.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Berl|first1=A.|last2=Gelenbe|first2=E.|last3=Girolamo|first3=M. Di|last4=Giuliani|first4=G.|last5=Meer|first5=H. De|last6=Dang|first6=M. Q.|last7=Pentikousis|first7=K.|date=September 2010|title=Energy-Efficient Cloud Computing|url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8130358|journal=The Computer Journal|volume=53|issue=7|pages=1045–1051|doi=10.1093/comjnl/bxp080|issn=1460-2067|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

However, this centralized computing model poses several challenges, especially in security and privacy. Current legislation does not sufficiently protect users from companies mishandling their data on company servers. This suggests potential for further legislative regulations on cloud computing and tech companies.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kaufman|first=L. M.|date=July 2009|title=Data Security in the World of Cloud Computing|journal=IEEE Security & Privacy|volume=7|issue=4|pages=61–64|doi=10.1109/MSP.2009.87|s2cid=16233643|issn=1558-4046}}</ref>

=== Quantum computing ===