A computer is made up of both hardware and software, but since computers are so common, I don’t think I need to mention this. The CPU, ALU, Bus systems, and Motherboard are the parts that make up the hardware. There are additional components, but I don’t really need to describe them all. The program is the software. The set of guidelines it has been given explains how to create a game for you to play or how to react to input.
The components and what makes up those components would be the most obvious improvements for a computer. At first, it was a set of gears powered by Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine and Analytical Engine.. Then engineers and scientists created mechanical relays that used electricity. Vacuum tubes followed, enabling more speed. It was discovered that transistors might be utilized to miniaturize circuits and devices once Bell Labs released them in 1949. The Integrated Circuit is where we eventually arrive. However, the computer is more than just its physical parts; it is also the programs and directives that guide it. The Jacquard Loom, a motorised loom with hole punched instructions that allowed it to produce Brocade and other intricate fabric kinds, is thus included in the book. Without including Augusta Ada King-Noel, Countess of Lovelace, the first programmer, no computer book would be complete.
The book also includes developments in the area of artificial intelligence. It covers information on Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, the first use of the word “robot,” an AI proving a Mathematical Theorem, Robby the Robot, and other topics ranging from pop culture to real life. The final entry discusses the limits of computation, which, barring quantum computing, will occur rather soon.
In this book you will cover these topics:
Programmable Robot
Programmable Robot
Cipher Disk
Use of the Word Computer
Slide Rule
Binary Arithmetic
Human Computers Predict Halley’s Comet
Electrical Telegraph
Actual Bug Found
Silicon Transistor
Core Memory
Microprogramming
Computer Speech Recognition
Artificial Intelligence Coined
Computer Proves Mathematical Theorem
Programming for Children
Interface Message Processor