Part 1: Unit Overview. Unit Aims. Unit Abstract. Unit Outcomes. Unit Outcomes

Transcription

1 Part 1: Unit Overview Unit Abstract Unit Aims Unit Outcomes Assessment Syllabus Reference Materials Resources Learning Strategy Unit Abstract The unit falls into three distinct strands: 1. Mathematics for computing 2. The historical development of computing, 3. The social context of computing Each strand has its own separate teaching and assessment arrangements. Unit Aims 1. To provide the mathematical and statistical skills and techniques necessary for successful completion of a computing degree 2. To enable students to examine critically the foundations of computing in terms of their historical and social background and context. Unit Outcomes Unit Outcomes 1 Apply and use basic mathematical notation appropriate for the computing subject area. 2 Apply and use basic mathematical methods and rules. 3 Identify the principal historical, social, economic and technical changes that have affected the development of computing. 4 Show how computing and related technologies are rooted in, and reflect the values of the cultures which produced them. 1

2 Assessment Computer Administered Examinations: 1 Introduction and background. Syllabus 2 Pre-history 3 Mechanical computation 4 The Turing Machine Semester 1: 50% Computer-marked mathematics and historical aspects examination Semester 2: 50% Computer-marked mathematics, historical aspects and social aspects examination 5 The Stored Program Computer. 6 High level languages 7 The development of the PC 8 The Internet. Set Book Martin Campbell-Kelly taken at Gresham College 9 th November 2006 David Anderson Origins of Computing Learning Strategy Develop an Explorer attitude! Tutorial session Here you will analyse key elements in the origins of computing, especially their social, technical, historical and cultural aspects. Weekly lecture Broad overview of the material 2

3 Who are we? Dr. David Anderson Executive member: Computer Conservation Society Founder Member: European History of Computing Project Member: British Society for the History of Maths Association for History and Computing UoP Research Groups: Humanities Computing Centre for European and International Studies Research Memory Cultures & Social, Historical and Cultural Change in Europe Consultant: Science Museum, London BBC PhD Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Systems Dr. Janet Delve Executive member: British Society for the History of Maths Association for History and Computing Founder Member: European History of Computing Project UoP Research Groups: Humanities Computing Centre for European and International Studies Research Memory Cultures Social, Historical and Cultural Change in Europe Part 2: Lecture Overview Brief material overview Generations of Computing Historical Perspective Criticism of the dominant discourse PhD Historical Computing and the History of Mathematics General Themes When, where and how did the computer develop? (Computer Timelines) What do we think we know? (Manchester story) What do we not know? (Research to be done) Which generic skills will we acquire? (Misattribution, repeating mistakes, working with people) Mechanical Computation The Ancient Greeks used sophisticated gears Hollerith invented the punched-card machine Pascal (France) and Leibniz (Germany) created calculating machines. Charles Babbage created the famous Difference Engine, and for this he is often called The Father of Computing. Why? Does he deserve this title? How do these machines relate to computing? 3

4 The Universal Turing Machine Babbage s ideas lay fallow for decades. What did Byron s daughter Ada Lovelace, imagine for Babbage s Analytical Engine? How does this relate to Turing s conception of the universal Turing machine? In what way did mathematics spur on Turing s developments? What effect did World War II have? The Stored-Program Computer Memory was the essential component for stored-program computers. What contributions did the SSEM EDSAC EDVAC ABC make in this respect? What about Konrad Zuse s mechanical memory? Does it matter which country invented what? Who contributed most to computing development engineers or mathematicians? High-level Languages Why were compilers a smart move introduced by Admiral Grace Hopper? Alan Turing and Maurice Wilkes had different ideas about hardware and software whose was best? Big bad Bill Gates what did he do to hobbyists that brought about universal software? The development of the PC What was the new technology necessary for this stage of computing development? Why were amateurs so important in the development of the PC? Was it Apple or Microsoft who brought us the PC interface we know and love? Where did the mouse come from? The development of the Internet In what way did Vannevar Bush and H.G.Wells pave the way for the concept of the World Wide Web? What is the Arpanet and what does the internet owe to the psychologist J.C.R. Licklider? Generations The history of computer development is conventionally divided into five distinct periods each characterized by a major technological development that fundamentally changed the way computers operate. Was Tim Berners-Lee sensible to make the web free? First Generation Second Generation Third Generation Fourth Generation Fifth Generation Present The future : Valves : Transistors : Integrated Circuits : Microprocessors : Massive Parallelism and AI Vannevar Bush HG Wells J.C.R. Licklider Tim Berners-Lee 4

5 G1: Valve Technology Sir John Ambrose Fleming Professor Frederick Guthrie made one of the first discoveries in He was investigating effects associated with charged objects and he showed that a red-hot iron sphere that was negatively charged would become discharged. He also found that the same did not happen if the sphere was positively charged. What might this effect enable one to do? Inventor of the the Thermionic (or Fleming) Valve. This was the first Electron Tube device (patented 1904) and signified the birth of electronic devices G1: Valves The first computers used valves for circuitry, and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms. Early Valve-Based Machines They were very expensive to operate and in addition to using a great deal of electricity, generated a lot of heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions. Eckert & Flowers The Colossus (June1944) examples of first-generation computers The ENIAC (February 1946) Main Problems with Valves Inventors of the Transistor Fragile Bulky Unreliable Power hungry Produced considerable heat John Bardeen born in Madison, Wisconsin, May 23, 1908 William Bradford Shockley born in London, on February 13, 1910 Walter Houser Brattain born in Amoy, China, on February 10,

6 G2: Transistors The transistor is a three terminal, solid state electronic device. In a three terminal device we can control electric current or voltage between two of the terminals by applying an electric current or voltage to the third terminal. The transistor was invented in 1947 but did not see widespread use in computers until the late 1950s. The transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube, allowing computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and more reliable than their first-generation predecessors. The first computers of this generation were developed for the atomic energy industry. The first ever transistor Transistors compared to Valves Miniscule More reliable Longer lasting Produced less heat Consumed less power The transistor stimulated engineers to design ever more complex electronic circuits and equipment containing hundreds or thousands of discrete components such as transistors, diodes, rectifiers and capacitors. Main problems with Transistors Components still had to be interconnected to form electronic circuits. Hand-soldering thousands of components to thousands of bits of wire was: expensive time-consuming and unreliable every soldered joint was a potential source of trouble. The challenge was to find cost-effective, reliable ways of producing these components and interconnecting them. Micro-Module program Tinkertoy Computer One attempted solution was the Micro- Module program, sponsored by the U.S. Army Signal Corps. The idea was to make components a uniform size and shape, with built-in wiring The modules then could be snapped together to make circuits, eliminating the need for wiring the connections. Dubbed the Tinkertoy approach. 6

7 G3: Integrated Circuits Inventors of the Integrated Circuit Jack Kilby Robert Noyce Kilby s Approach G3: Integrated Circuits Jack Kilby didn't think the Micro-Module was the answer it didn't address the basic problem of large quantities of components in elaborate circuits. [I came] to the conclusion that semiconductors were all that were really required that resistors and capacitors [passive devices], in particular, could be made from the same material as the active devices [transistors]. I also realized that, since all of the components could be made of a single material, they could also be made in situ interconnected to form a complete circuit" Kilby 1976 Integrated circuits were made possible by: The discovery that semiconductor devices could perform the functions of valves, and by mid-20th-century technology advancements in semiconductor device fabrication (enabling technology). The integration of large numbers of tiny transistors into a small chip was an enormous improvement over the manual assembly of circuits using discrete electronic components. The integrated circuit's mass production capability, reliability, and building-block approach to circuit design ensured the rapid adoption of standardized ICs in place of designs using discrete transistors.. G4: Microprocessors G4: Microprocessors The microprocessor itself is actually just a type of integrated circuit. In November 1971, Intel introduced the world's first commercial microprocessor, the 4004, invented by three Intel engineers. It contained 2300 transistors and performed about 60,000 calculations in a second. By 1996 it had over 5.5 million transistors, all either acting as amplifiers, oscillators or switches. Marcian Ted Hoff Federico Faggin Stan Mazor In addition to the transistors, other components, such as resistors, diodes, capacitors and wires are packed on to the CPU chip. 7

8 Moore s Law This law suggests that the complexity of an integrated circuit, with respect to minimum component cost, doubles every 24 months. This dictum has generally proven true since the early 1970s. Gordon Moore Co-founder and former Chairman, Intel Born:January 3, 1929 San Francisco, California G5: Artificial Intelligence Fifth Generation Computer Systems project an initiative by Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry, begun in 1982, to create a "fifth generation computer" which was supposed to perform much calculation utilizing massive parallelism. It was to be the end result of a massive government/industry research project. It aimed to create an "epoch-making computer" with supercomputer-like performance and usable artificial intelligence capabilities. The term fifth generation was intended to convey the system as being a leap beyond existing machines. Problems with the engineering perspective Suggests a very recent (and misleading) start date for computing (1940) Portrays all development (so far) in hardware terms Internally inconsistent (5 th Generation is different) Ignores the social and intellectual context in which computing happened Disregards a number of very significant developments (including hardware eg memory) 8