Wiktor Wise
The first digital electrical computer was a groundbreaking innovation that revolutionised the world of technology and computing. The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was the first programmable, electronic, general-purpose digital computer, unveiled in 1946. It was designed by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert and funded by the United States Army. However, the contributions of women to the project were often overlooked, and the work of Dr. John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry, who created the first automatic electronic digital computer, was not widely recognised until decades later. The development of the first digital electrical computer sparked a digital revolution, leading to advancements in technology that have had a profound impact on our lives.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of the first digital electrical computer | ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) |
| Creators | John Mauchly, J. Presper Eckert, Jr. and their colleagues at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania |
| Year of completion | 1945 or 1946 |
| Cost | $400,000 or $487,000 |
| Size | 50-by-30-foot basement, 1,500-square-foot room |
| Components | 40 panels, 17,000-18,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors, 6,000 switches, 1,500 relays |
| Power consumption | 150-174 kilowatts |
| Speed | 5,000 additions per second |
| Purpose | Computing artillery firing tables for the US Army |
| First program | Study of the feasibility of the thermonuclear weapon |
| Influence | Inspired the development of smaller, more capable, and more affordable computers |
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What You'll Learn
ENIAC: the first general-purpose digital computer
ENIAC, the first general-purpose digital computer, was built during World War II by the United States. It was the first programmable, electronic, general-purpose digital computer, completed in 1945 and unveiled in 1946. It was designed by physicist John Mauchly and engineer J. Presper Eckert Jr. from the University of Pennsylvania, under the leadership of Herman Goldstine. The project was government-funded, with the Army providing the funds.
The construction contract was signed on June 5, 1943, and work on the computer began in secret at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering. The computer was designed to calculate artillery firing tables for the United States Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory. It was also Turing-complete and able to solve a large class of numerical problems through reprogramming.
ENIAC was a massive machine, occupying a 50-by-30-foot basement (or a 1,500-square-foot room) at the Moore School. It was made up of 40 panels, each about 2 feet wide by 2 feet deep by 8 feet high, arranged in a U-shape along three walls. It included over 17,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors, 6,000 switches, and 1,500 relays, making it the most complex electronic system built at the time.
ENIAC was a significant advancement in computing technology, capable of performing calculations at a much faster speed than previous machines. It sparked a digital revolution and inspired others to build improved computers, leading to the development of smaller, more capable, and more affordable machines over time.
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John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert: the inventors
John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert are often credited as the inventors of the first digital electronic computer. They led a team of government-funded researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering to build the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), which was completed in 1945 and unveiled in 1946. ENIAC was the first programmable, electronic, general-purpose digital computer, designed to calculate artillery firing tables for the US Army. It was a huge machine, taking up a 1,500-square-foot room with 40 panels, 17,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors, 6,000 switches, and 1,500 relays.
However, it is important to note that the work of John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry, who built the first automatic electronic digital computer (ABC) from 1939 to 1942, predates that of Mauchly and Eckert. ABC's priority is debated among historians because it was neither programmable nor Turing-complete. Nevertheless, it is considered a pioneering effort that influenced the thinking of other physicists and computer scientists. In 1973, a US District Court invalidated the ENIAC patent, concluding that Mauchly and Eckert had derived the concept of the electronic digital computer from Atanasoff.
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Atanasoff–Berry computer: the first automatic electronic digital computer
The Atanasoff–Berry computer (ABC) is considered the first automatic electronic digital computer. It was built by Iowa State College mathematics and physics professor John Vincent Atanasoff with the help of graduate student Clifford Berry. The ABC was built in the basement of the physics building at Iowa State College from 1939 to 1942. The initial funds for the project were released in September 1939, and the 11-tube prototype was first demonstrated in October 1939. The full-scale machine was then constructed over the next two years.
The ABC was designed to solve systems of linear equations and was successfully tested in 1942. However, its intermediate result storage mechanism, a paper card writer/reader, was not perfected, and when John Vincent Atanasoff left Iowa State College for World War II assignments, work on the machine was discontinued. The ABC pioneered important elements of modern computing, including binary arithmetic, electronic computation, parallel processing, regenerative capacitor memory, and a separation of memory and computing functions. The mechanical and logic design was worked out by Atanasoff over the course of a year.
The ABC's priority is debated among historians of computer technology because it was neither programmable nor Turing-complete. Conventionally, the ABC would be considered the first electronic ALU (arithmetic logic unit), which is integrated into every modern processor's design. Its unique contribution was to make computing faster by being the first to use vacuum tubes to perform arithmetic calculations. The ABC contained approximately 300 vacuum tubes, 280 dual-triode vacuum tubes, 31 thyratrons, and weighed about 320 kg. It was about the size of a desk and was the first electronic digital computer.
The work of Atanasoff and Berry was not widely known until it was rediscovered in the 1960s, amid patent disputes over the first instance of an electronic computer. At that time, the ENIAC, created by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, was considered the first computer in the modern sense. However, in 1973, a U.S. District Court invalidated the ENIAC patent, concluding that its inventors had derived the concept of the electronic digital computer from Atanasoff.
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Colossus: the British World War II computer
The development of the first digital, electronic computers marked a pivotal moment in the history of technology, with one of the earliest examples being the British machine, Colossus. This groundbreaking device played a significant role during World War II, breaking German cryptographic codes and helping to hasten the end of the conflict.
Colossus was the world's first electronic, programmable computer, designed and built by a team led by engineer Tommy Flowers for the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, England. The machine was designed specifically to help decipher encrypted German messages, particularly those encrypted by the Lorenz SZ 40/42 machine, a complex electro-mechanical rotor cipher machine used by the German High Command for secure communications.
The development of Colossus began in 1943, and the first machine, Colossus Mark 1, became operational at Bletchley Park in December 1943. This initial version used vacuum tubes, or valves, to perform logical operations and had approximately 1,500 vacuum tubes in total. It could examine five characters at a time and test for matches at a speed of about 5,000 characters per second.
An improved version, Colossus Mark 2, was developed in 1944, featuring an impressive 2,400 vacuum tubes and a processing speed of 25,000 characters per second. This machine was a significant advancement, capable of processing entire lines of text, and it played a crucial role in the lead-up to D-Day, helping to ensure the success of the Allied invasion of Europe.
One of the key advantages of Colossus was its programmability. While earlier machines, like the German Z3 and the American Atanasoff–Berry Computer, were also digital electronic computers, they lacked the flexibility of Colossus. It used a system of switches and plugs to configure its logic circuits, allowing it to be reprogrammed to tackle different code-breaking tasks.
In total, ten Colossus computers were built during World War II, each one playing a vital role in the Allied code-breaking efforts. These machines represented a significant technological advancement for their time and laid the foundation for the development of modern computing. The impact of Colossus extended beyond the war, influencing the design of early commercial computers and contributing to the field of computer science.
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The Moore School: the birthplace of ENIAC
The Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania is known as the birthplace of the computer industry. It was here, in the school's 50-by-30-foot basement, that the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was built between 1943 and 1946. ENIAC was the first programmable, electronic, general-purpose digital computer.
The project was led by John Mauchly, an American physicist and Ursinus College professor, and J. Presper Eckert, an American engineer and University of Pennsylvania graduate. The two met at the Moore School when Mauchly enrolled in the government-funded Engineering, Science, Management War Training (ESMWT) course, which Eckert was hired to run. Both men were interested in speeding up the ability to perform computations, and they began working on ENIAC under the code name "Project PX" in 1943. The construction contract was signed on June 5, 1943, and assembly for the computer began in June 1944.
The team working on ENIAC also included Herman H. Goldstine, who persuaded the Army to fund the project and oversaw it for them, John Grist Brainerd, who was the principal investigator, and John Brainerd. In September 1944, Eckert and Mauchly completed their conception of the computer, and construction was completed in May 1945. Testing began at the Moore School, and in November 1945, the team issued the first confidential published report on the computer.
In addition to the men leading the project, a group of about 200 women, known as "computers," were employed at the Moore School and worked on ballistics calculations for the war effort. Six of these women—Kathleen McNulty Mauchly Antonelli, Jean Jennings Bartik, Frances (Betty) Snyder Holberton, Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer, Frances Bilas Spence, and Ruth Lichterman Teitelbaum—are specifically celebrated for their contributions to ENIAC. They studied the machine's logic, physical structure, operation, and circuitry, and some went on to help write the first generative programming system and design the first commercial electronic computers.
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Frequently asked questions
The first programmable general-purpose electronic digital computer was the ENIAC, built during World War II by the United States. It was developed by American physicist John Mauchly, American engineer J. Presper Eckert, Jr., and their colleagues at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.
ENIAC stands for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer.
The first automatic electronic digital computer was the Atanasoff–Berry computer (ABC). It was built by Iowa State College mathematics and physics professor John Vincent Atanasoff with the help of graduate student Clifford Berry.
