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QUIRKY SCIENCE (EP. 10)
EP. 10. Computers: Early examples of computers are the ancient Antikythera machine and the 19th century engines made by Charles Babbage. But Babbages's designs could not be completed as its construction was ahead of its time! The makers of the first electric computer got a $850 fee to complete their work. They did, but WW2 halted progression. That same war sparked the need for a rapid development for strong calculation machines. The computer was invented because astronauts and the military needed huge calculators. You see, it’s hard for a human being to calculate immense figures like ‘how far will this space shuttle be in six days if we launch it today?’ These early computers were 27,000 kg examples yet had about as much power as a calculator today. One invention created the possibility to downsize these huge computer models: the transistor. Developed in the early 1950s the fingertip - sized transistors replaced huge vacuum tubes of the pre-war computers, in helping them to make one decision, between: ‘zero’ or ‘one’, or ‘on’ or ‘off’. That simple decision is the foundation for a code, the language of computers. The transistor opened the door to the personal computer. What about its future? Supercomputers? Computers that are calculating most of the things around us: buildings, airplanes up to the smallest level: our DNA to calculate which gene would have to be targeted for medical improvements. Computers are way ahead of us – or so it seems.
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EP. 10. Computers: Early examples of computers are the ancient Antikythera machine and the 19th century engines made by Charles Babbage. But Babbages's designs could not be completed as its construction was ahead of its time! The makers of the first electric computer got a $850 fee to complete their work. They did, but WW2 halted progression. That same war sparked the need for a rapid development for strong calculation machines. The computer was invented because astronauts and the military needed huge calculators. You see, it’s hard for a human being to calculate immense figures like ‘how far will this space shuttle be in six days if we launch it today?’ These early computers were 27,000 kg examples yet had about as much power as a calculator today. One invention created the possibility to downsize these huge computer models: the transistor. Developed in the early 1950s the fingertip - sized transistors replaced huge vacuum tubes of the pre-war computers, in helping them to make one decision, between: ‘zero’ or ‘one’, or ‘on’ or ‘off’. That simple decision is the foundation for a code, the language of computers. The transistor opened the door to the personal computer. What about its future? Supercomputers? Computers that are calculating most of the things around us: buildings, airplanes up to the smallest level: our DNA to calculate which gene would have to be targeted for medical improvements. Computers are way ahead of us – or so it seems.