In this "virtual laboratory" you will research a bit of the history of computer science.
If you are interested in learning more about the topics touched on in this lab/homework, you should look at this short book
Your answers are to be handed in on paper to your instructor
A helpful tip: if you're using a PC, your mouse probably has (at least) 2 buttons on it. When you click on a link using the left button, the new page opens up, and the page you were looking at before disappears. If you use the right button, though, the new page will open up in its own "window", so you can view the new page and the old page simultaneously. If you're using a Mac, you can do the same thing -- your mouse only has one button, though, so what you have to do is instead of just clicking, hold the button down for a second; a short menu should pop up and you can select "Open in New Window" (or something like that).
I. Pre World War I |
|
|
Blaise Pascal is considered one of the forerunners of computer science
because of his invention of a machine called the Pascaline.
(see picture). |
|
| When did Pascal live? |
|
| What was the purpose of the Pascaline? |
|
| In the early nineteenth century, Jacquard invented a special type of loom. What was special about Jacquard's loom? | |
| Charles Babbage is known as the "Father of the Computer" for his development of the Difference Engine (see picture) and his ideas for creating an Analytical Engine. How did Babbage envision the Analytical Engine? |
|
| Lady Ada Lovelace
is known as the "first computer programmer". |
|
| What type of programs did Lady Lovelace write? |
|
| What was named after Lady Lovelace? |
|
| In 1884, Hollerith developed a punched
card reader.
For what purpose did Hollerith design his punched cards? |
|
II. Towards Computers as we Know Them |
|
| Here
you will find a very brief synopsis of Alan Turing's contributions. And
at this site you will be able
to read a short biography of him. |
|
| Who introduced the idea of a stored-program
digital computer (like the ones we use today? |
|
| Who built the first operational computer? |
|
| How did Turing die? |
|
| Here is a "virtual
exhibit" on the ENIAC, one of the earliest modern computers.
|
|
| What motivated work on the ENIAC? |
|
| How many vacuum tubes did the ENIAC contain? |
|
| How much faster was the ENIAC than other devices
that existed then? |
|
