History of Computers

Roderick Hames

Number of words 1050
Computer science content low
Math content low
English language complexity low

Sub-areas covered

Learning objectives

Keywords

punched card (karta perforowana)
a card on which data can be recorded in the form of punched holes
binary code (kod binarny)
code using a string of 8 binary digits to represent characters

Summary

A short article which describes the history of computers and their precursors. It briefly mentions important events from 1600 up to the times when the first computer was built. A nice text written in simple language. It could be used as a lead-in to interesting discussions about the future of computers or the pace of their evolution.

Krótki tekstopisujący historię komputerów wraz z tym, co można nazwać ich proto- plastami. Pokrótce opisane są ważniejsze wydarzenia od 1600 roku aż do powstania pierwszego komputera. Przyjemny tekst, napisany nieskomplikowanym językiem. Może być wstępem do ciekawych dyskusji na przykład o przyszłości komputerów lub tempie ich dalszego rozwoju.

Pre-reading questions

  1. Why do so many people not know how the modern computer began?
  2. Why do you think the computer has changed more rapidly than anything else?
  3. How do you think W.W.II might have been different if the ENIAC, the first all electrical computer, whose first job was to calculate the feasibility of a design for the hydrogen bomb, had not been invented then?

See also: