Computers

Abstract

CALCULATING machines are as old as history, and punched-card control of machines dates back to the early eighteenth century when they were used in France to control looms used for weaving elaborate patterns. In England, Charles Babbage¹ produced designs for a mechanical computer that were too far in advance of technology to produce a working machine. Babbage’s proposed ‘analytical engine’ of c. 1840 had an arithmetic unit and a memory and used punched cards, not only for input and output, but also to store programs capable of performing iterative calculations with conditional branching. It was only when the Mark I computer at Manchester University began working in 1948 that Babbage’s vision became reality. There is not time enough nor the space to go into the origins of the computer; those wishing to do so can try The Origins of Digital Computers, edited by B Randell, 3rd ed., Springer-Verlag (1982).