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KNOWLEDGE CORNER
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COMMUNICATION THROUGH AGES
The most basic and universal form of communication is probably gestures. However, as it is not possible to exchange much with gestures, the dominant way of communicating among the humans is speaking. The existence of spoken language predates almost all other methods of communicating. Speech, as a method of communication cannot store ideas. This need pushed the invention of symbols. The oldest known uses of symbols are Cave Paintings of Paleolithic Era (32000 BP). Cave Painting evolves to Petroglyph, then Pictogram and finally to Writing. The oldest known forms of writings were Logographic where a symbol was described by a picture. Hieroglyphs (4000 BC) are one such example, which was developed by the Egyptians. The final development in writing was due to the Alphabets, which is a set of symbols describing phonemes in a spoken language. Writing becomes popular and easier with the invention of Paper in China (105 AD). Telecommunication is a word for transmission of information over distant places. In 1792, Claude Chappe, a French engineer, build the first telegraph system known as Semaphore Line. However, these lines didn't become much popular as they needed expensive towers with a skilled operator in only 10-30 km distance. The first popular and widely used telecommunication system was Electrical Telegraph. They could transmit coded signals (mostly Morse Code) over a long distance using electrical relays. The first commercial telegraphs' system was deployed in 1839. In 1866, first successful transatlantic telegraph cable was completed. Telephone was patented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. The World entered the age of wireless communication with the invention of Radio in the Early Twentieth Century. Both Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose of Bangladesh and Guglielmo Marconi of Italy were credited for the development of Radio independently. Along with voice, it became possible to transmit motion pictures as well when Scottish inventor John Logie Baird demonstrated the first Television in 1925. EVOLUTION OF COMPUTER
The term Computer, originally meant a person capable of performing numerical calculations with the help of a mechanical computing device. The evolution of computers started way back in the late 1930s. Binary arithmetic is at the core of the computers of all times. History of computers dates back to the invention of a mechanical adding machine in 1642. ABACUS, an early computing tool, invention of the logarithm by John Napier and the invention of slide rules by William Oughtred were significant events in the evolution of computers from these early computing devices. Konrad Zuse's, of Germany, came up with the series Z electromechanical computers. In 1941, Zuse built Z3, which used binary arithmetic and was controlled by programs. In 1998, Z3 was tested and found to be Turing complete i.e. a fully operational computer which used electromagnets. Out of these efforts to harness machines to calculate the trajectories of the cannon shells, in 1946, came ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) which was hailed as the first true all-purpose electronic computer. Its principle inventors John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, were regarded, for a long time, as the inventors who made the first computer. ENIAC was a very big machine, and it weighed almost 30-tons. It was complex machine and employed 19,000 vacuum tubes and 6,000 switches to do the calculations. By 1946 standards, its speed at addition of 5,000 numbers in a second, was unheard of and unmatched for. However, the initial model of ENIAC needed to be rewired to change its programming because of its inflexible architecture. Developed in the war phase of 1942, Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) was the world's first fully electronic digital computer. Its inventors, John Vincent Atanasoff & Clifford Berry shared the relationship of a professor and a student. John was an American electronics engineer while Clifford his student. Intel produced large-scale integration circuits in 1971. During the same year, Micro Computer came up with microprocessor and Ted Hoff, working for Intel introduced 4-bit 4004. In 1972, Intel introduced the 8080 microprocessors. In 1974, Xerox came up with Alto workstation at PARC. It consisted of a monitor, a graphical interface, a mouse, and an Ethernet card for networking. Apple Computer brought about the Macintosh personal computer in January 24, 1984. These years witnessed the development of the third generation computers. They were based on integrated circuits. Computer systems of this period have large storage capacities and high processing powers. Multi-core CPUs became available in the 21st century. Laptops, palmtops, handheld PCs, notebook computers and tablet PCs are popular today. Computer development still continues.
The most basic and universal form of communication is probably gestures. However, as it is not possible to exchange much with gestures, the dominant way of communicating among the humans is speaking. The existence of spoken language predates almost all other methods of communicating. Speech, as a method of communication cannot store ideas. This need pushed the invention of symbols. The oldest known uses of symbols are Cave Paintings of Paleolithic Era (32000 BP). Cave Painting evolves to Petroglyph, then Pictogram and finally to Writing. The oldest known forms of writings were Logographic where a symbol was described by a picture. Hieroglyphs (4000 BC) are one such example, which was developed by the Egyptians. The final development in writing was due to the Alphabets, which is a set of symbols describing phonemes in a spoken language. Writing becomes popular and easier with the invention of Paper in China (105 AD). Telecommunication is a word for transmission of information over distant places. In 1792, Claude Chappe, a French engineer, build the first telegraph system known as Semaphore Line. However, these lines didn't become much popular as they needed expensive towers with a skilled operator in only 10-30 km distance. The first popular and widely used telecommunication system was Electrical Telegraph. They could transmit coded signals (mostly Morse Code) over a long distance using electrical relays. The first commercial telegraphs' system was deployed in 1839. In 1866, first successful transatlantic telegraph cable was completed. Telephone was patented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. The World entered the age of wireless communication with the invention of Radio in the Early Twentieth Century. Both Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose of Bangladesh and Guglielmo Marconi of Italy were credited for the development of Radio independently. Along with voice, it became possible to transmit motion pictures as well when Scottish inventor John Logie Baird demonstrated the first Television in 1925. EVOLUTION OF COMPUTER
The term Computer, originally meant a person capable of performing numerical calculations with the help of a mechanical computing device. The evolution of computers started way back in the late 1930s. Binary arithmetic is at the core of the computers of all times. History of computers dates back to the invention of a mechanical adding machine in 1642. ABACUS, an early computing tool, invention of the logarithm by John Napier and the invention of slide rules by William Oughtred were significant events in the evolution of computers from these early computing devices. Konrad Zuse's, of Germany, came up with the series Z electromechanical computers. In 1941, Zuse built Z3, which used binary arithmetic and was controlled by programs. In 1998, Z3 was tested and found to be Turing complete i.e. a fully operational computer which used electromagnets. Out of these efforts to harness machines to calculate the trajectories of the cannon shells, in 1946, came ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) which was hailed as the first true all-purpose electronic computer. Its principle inventors John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, were regarded, for a long time, as the inventors who made the first computer. ENIAC was a very big machine, and it weighed almost 30-tons. It was complex machine and employed 19,000 vacuum tubes and 6,000 switches to do the calculations. By 1946 standards, its speed at addition of 5,000 numbers in a second, was unheard of and unmatched for. However, the initial model of ENIAC needed to be rewired to change its programming because of its inflexible architecture. Developed in the war phase of 1942, Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) was the world's first fully electronic digital computer. Its inventors, John Vincent Atanasoff & Clifford Berry shared the relationship of a professor and a student. John was an American electronics engineer while Clifford his student. Intel produced large-scale integration circuits in 1971. During the same year, Micro Computer came up with microprocessor and Ted Hoff, working for Intel introduced 4-bit 4004. In 1972, Intel introduced the 8080 microprocessors. In 1974, Xerox came up with Alto workstation at PARC. It consisted of a monitor, a graphical interface, a mouse, and an Ethernet card for networking. Apple Computer brought about the Macintosh personal computer in January 24, 1984. These years witnessed the development of the third generation computers. They were based on integrated circuits. Computer systems of this period have large storage capacities and high processing powers. Multi-core CPUs became available in the 21st century. Laptops, palmtops, handheld PCs, notebook computers and tablet PCs are popular today. Computer development still continues.
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