Basic Knowledge about Computer

It is normal for questions from general knowledge to come in important competitive examinations at all India or state level. Again, the scope of general knowledge is also wide. By studying the questions on Static GK from various topics, several specific topics will be discussed in detail. In this case, the topic under discussion is Basic Knowledge about Computer.

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Basic Knowledge about Computer

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➢ Computer: A computer is a sophisticated electrical device, with the help of which many complex calculations can be completed very quickly. In addition, drawing pictures, listening to music, playing games and writing programs on a computer can be solved very easily. This device works with information and instructions from us, provides results and stores the necessary information in memory.

➢ Benefits of using a computer: Some of the benefits that we get from using a computer are:
i. Speed: Complex calculations can be done very quickly with the help of a computer.
ii. Accuracy: Accurate results can be obtained with the help of a computer.
iii. Storage capacity: A large amount of information can be stored in the computer memory.
iv. Industriousness: Even if the same task is done repeatedly, the computer never gets tired, it always works at the same speed. The computer can do many things at the same time.
v. Versatility: Various types of work can be done with the help of a computer. Such as typing, drawing, listening to music, playing games, etc.
vi. Cost reduction: Costs can be reduced by using a computer. The work is reduced.
However, a computer cannot do any work on its own. It works according to human instructions. ➣ Physical Science MCQ

Basic Knowledge about Computer

➢ History of Computer Invention: If we examine the history of computer invention, we can see that various inventions from the first abacus device suitable for mathematical calculations to the first generation of computers become clear. Basic Knowledge about Computer

Abacus: The abacus was the first mathematical calculation device. The first abacus device was invented in China about five thousand years ago. The device was made by putting several rows of ropes in a rectangular wooden frame and using pebbles or stones. Calculations were made with the help of these pebbles or stones. Later, wire was used instead of rope and beads were used instead of pebbles.

Napier’s Bone: About four and a half thousand years after the abacus device, in 1617, Scottish scientist and mathematician John Napier invented a device called Napier’s Bone. This device could be used to easily add, subtract, multiply and divide.

Slide Rule: The English mathematician and clergyman William Oughtred invented the slide rule in 1632. Oughtred invented this device by placing two logarithmic scales of Edmund Gunter side by side, with which multiplication and division could be done directly without a divider.

Pascaline: About 25 years after the invention of the Napier’s bone and about a decade after the invention of the slide rule, in 1642, the French mathematician Blaise Pascal, at the age of 19, invented a device called the Pascaline. This calculating machine was made with a few small wheels, with which addition, subtraction, multiplication and division could be done very easily. This is known as the first calculator. Although in 1623, the German professor and polymath Wilhelm Schickard invented the basic functions of the first working mechanical calculator. Basic Knowledge about Computer

Stepped reckoner: German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz demonstrated a digital mechanical calculator called the stepped reckoner in 1673. He is considered the first computer scientist and information theorist for his device’s ability to record statistics and the binary number system.

Jacquard’s Loom and Punched Card: French weaver Joseph Marie Jacquard invented a loom that could automatically weave patterns using punched wooden cards in 1801. Early computers used similar punched cards. Charles Babbage adopted this technology to input programs into his Analytical Engine (1837). Later, Herman Hollerith used punched cards for the 1890 U.S. Census.

Arithmometer: French inventor Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar launched the mechanical calculator industry in 1820 with his simplified arithmometer. This machine was the first calculating machine powerful and reliable enough for everyday use in an office environment.

Difference Engine and Analytical Engine: In 1822, English mathematician Charles Babbage built a steam-powered machine called the Difference Engine. The machine operated on its own following instructions and could calculate percentages and square roots in addition to addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In 1837, Babbage improved the machine and presented it as the Analytical Engine. Although this project funded by the English government temporarily failed, more than a century later, following these two machines created by Charles Babbage, the world’s first computer was created and today the modern computer is created. Charles Babbage is therefore called the Father of Computer.

First Algorithm: In 1843, while translating a French article on the Analytical Engine, Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, wrote an algorithm for calculating Bernoulli numbers in one of her various notes, which is considered to be the first published algorithm specifically designed for implementation on a computer.

Tabulator: German-American mathematician Herman Hollerith invented the tabulator in 1885, which used punched cards to process statistical data. He founded the company that eventually became known as IBM.

Turing machine: In 1936, British mathematician and computer scientist Alan Mathison Turing proposed the concept of a universal machine, later known as the Turing machine by his doctoral advisor Alonzo Church. This machine was capable of computing anything computable. The machine is a fundamental, theoretical model of computation that sets limits to algorithmic computability. It simulates a computer using an infinite tape, a read/write head, and a finite set of state-based rules, capable of computing any function that a modern computer can. The central concept of the modern computer later developed from Turing’s ideas.

First Electronic Digital Computer: John Vincent Atanasoff, a professor of physics and mathematics at Iowa State University in the United States, attempted to build the first computer without gears, cams, belts, or shafts in 1937. In 1941, he, along with his fellow student Clifford Edward Berry, invented the first electronic ALU (arithmetic logic unit) computer, known as the Atanasoff–Berry Computer (ABC). This computer was capable of solving 29 equations simultaneously. It was the first computer to store data in its main memory. In 1937, American physicist Howard Hathaway Aiken, with the help of IBM components, invented the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC)/Harvard Mark-I computer based on Babbage’s Analytical Engine.

ENIAC: The first computer to be powered entirely by electricity was ENIAC. John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, two professors at the University of Pennsylvania, developed the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC). Considered the ancestor of digital computers, this computer, which originated in 1846, was the size of a 20-foot by 40-foot room. This computer used 18,000 vacuum tubes to accelerate calculations 1,000 times faster than electromechanical machines. The machine weighed more than 30 tons. The machine, which occupied 1,800 square feet, had about 7,200 diodes connected to it. ENIAC operated until 1955 and paved the way for modern computing. Its components are currently on display at the Smithsonian Institution.

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