THE EVOLUTION OF COMPUTER CONTROL

Introduction

In the beginning, machines were always controlled by human muscle or touch. The early plow is one example. Horses or other animals provided the power that pulled the plow through the fields, and the farmer provided guidance. This required strength as well as quick thinking and a sure hand. It was also slow. Plowing could be done no faster than a farmer could walk.
Around 200 years ago, as people began to invent more and more machines, they also began to search for ways to control those machines automatically. Complex systems of gears and pulleys were devised. Once set into motion, they carried out a particular process, but a human still had to keep a close eye on them and usually guide their actions.

Early automated processes were fairly straightforward. Look at your shirt or sweater. Is it plain or does it have a design, such as a leaf pattern, woven into it? For a plain fabric, threads of the same color are woven together in straight rows. If the fabric contains a design, however, the pattern of individual threads must be changed many times. With the first mechanized looms, a worker still had to manually change those threads. The process was tedious and time consuming.

Early inventors experimented with ways to speed up and simplify such processes. Some of these experiments helped lead to the invention of the computer. The use of binary numbers also played a key part. Today, computers and machines continue to evolve together.

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Task

For this WebQuest, your job is to investigate the evolution of computer control. You will find out who some of the pioneers in the field were and what contributions they made. You will discover why binary arithmetic has played such an important role. To demonstrate what you have learned, you will answer the questions included here. You will also complete one of the activities described at the end of this WebQuest.

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Process

Read through the following questions. Then research the Internet resources that are provided for you. As you explore the sites, look for answers to the questions. Notice that most questions have more than one part. Be sure to answer them all. Keep a record of any sites where you find answers by noting the title and URL (Internet address). For example:

            (title) Technology Student Association
            (URL) http://www.tsaweb.org

1.   Who invented binary arithmetic and when? What makes binary arithmetic more useful for processing electronic data than our base-10 system?

2.   In early manufacturing, what was the term for the worker who directed the different threads used to create a design in fabric? What controlling device did Joseph Marie Jacquard use that changed the system and helped lay the foundation for the first computers? How did human weavers react to his new loom?

3.   Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine is sometimes called the first computer. What task was it designed to perform?

4.   How did Herman Hollerith and the 12th U.S. census in 1890 influence the development of computers? Why was it important that the census be accurate? What large company can trace its beginnings back to Herman Hollerith?

5.   What was the job of Colossus, the first punch-card computer to process data using an electronic digital (number) code?

6.   What was the name of the first all-electrical computer that used wires and switches to transfer data? 

7.   Whose idea was it to store computer data in binary code? What was the name of the first computer to use binary code? When was it built?

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Resources

Visit the Web sites listed here to find information that will enable you to answer the questions. You may use additional sites if you wish. Be sure to keep a record of any sites you use.

• Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz  Leibniz’s Essay on the New Science of Numbers described a new counting system.

• Jacquard Loom  The history of Jacquard’s automatic loom.

• Joseph Marie Jacquard  Information about Jacquard’s loom and its effect on the textile industry.

•  The 1890 Census and the Hollerith Machine Story of the part played by the U.S. census in computer evolution.

• Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine  Information about one of the founders of computing.

• The Computer Daily  News General history about computers.

• Computers: History and Development chronicles computer evolution.

• Herman Hollerith  provides an overview of his contribution to the development of computers.

• EDVAC  Information about one of the early giant computers. This one weighed over 17,000 pounds.

• Introduction to Binary Numbers  describes how the binary system works.

• Kids Domain:  Computers--Lesson 5 gives basic information about computer languages and has links to additional computer information.

• Just a Nybble  A binary number puzzle.

• Codes and Ciphers  An article on the history of secret codes.

• Cypherspace  An online game that tests your code-breaking ability.

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Activities

Several activities are described below. Complete one of these activities (your choice) to demonstrate understandings you’ve gained by going on this WebQuest.

• Devise a game of Hangman in which the questions or answers are given in binary code.
• Create your own code so that others cannot understand your messages without some type of strategy or decoding device.
• Create math flashcards in which the problem (or answer) is posed in binary terms.
• Create an illustrated timeline showing important achievements in the development of computer control.
• Write an essay describing how punch cards, counting machines, binary numbers, and electrical impulses all came together to produce the computers we use today. Be sure to list your sources.

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