In 1996, many countries around the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of computer science. This event is associated with the 50th anniversary of the creation of the first electronic computer Eniac. No computing machine has had as much of an impact on the development of digital technology as Eniac.
Instructions
Step 1
The first Eniac computer was created in the USA in 1946. The authors of the project were scientists John Mockley and J. Presper Eckert. The development team included John von Neumann, who formulated the principles of the computer. Modern computers are designed according to these principles.
Step 2
According to the principles formulated by Neumann, a computer should consist of an arithmetic-logical unit, a control unit for executing programs, a memory device, and an input-output device.
Step 3
The first electronic computer, Eniac, was created by order of the US Department of Defense to solve ballistic problems. The Eniac computer proved to be capable of solving many problems not only in the military industry. The first successful numerical weather forecast was produced with Eniac in 1950.
Step 4
The computer had a small amount of internal memory, which was only sufficient for storing numerical data. The calculation programs had to be practically “soldered” into the electronic circuits of the machine. The program was set by the trigger commutation scheme on 40 typesetting fields, so it took weeks to reconfigure the machine. The first computer used the decimal number system (modern computers use the binary system). The structure of the first computer was analogous to a mechanical computer.
Step 5
The Eniac computer used three types of electronic circuits: coincidence circuits, collecting circuits, and triggers. The signal at the output on the coincidence circuits appeared only if signals were received at all inputs. In collecting circuits, the output signal appeared if there was a signal at least at one input. The triggers were made on double triodes - two three-electrode vacuum tubes were mounted in one cylinder.
Step 6
The use of electrovacuum technology has made it possible to achieve speeds inaccessible with the use of electromechanical elements. The Eniac computer could perform 5,000 additions and 360 multiplications per second. Mechanical and electromechanical adding machines performed calculations hundreds of times slower.
Step 7
The weight of the car was 30 tons. The area occupied by the first computer is 300 sq.m. In the project of the first computer, 17 468 electronic tubes were incorporated. This was because Eniac was designed to work with decimal numbers. However, such a number of lamps led to overheating and breakdowns. In 17 thousand lamps, 1.7 billion conditions arose every second under which one of the lamps could not work.
Step 8
The developers solved this problem as follows - they began to apply less voltage to the vacuum tubes, and the number of emergencies decreased. J. Eckert became the author of the equipment malfunction monitoring program. Every component of the first computer was thoroughly tested and sealed in place.
Step 9
The first Eniac computer has been in operation for 9 years since its inception. It was last turned on in 1955.
