Von Neumann laid the foundation of modern computers and is revered as the "Father of Computers" by the world. However, when talking about his theories and ideas, he modestly said that these theories and ideas are The basis comes from the ideas of British mathematicians Turing and Boole. Boolean George published "Research on the Laws of Thinking" in 1847 and founded logical algebra. He successfully reduced formal logic to a kind of algebra. Boolean believed that various propositions in logic can be represented by mathematical symbols and can Derive appropriate conclusions corresponding to logical problems based on rules. Boolean's logical algebra theory is based on two logical values ??"True" and "False" and three logical relationships "AND", "OR" and "NOT". This theory paved the way for the design of binary, shape-related logic components and logic circuits of digital electronic computers. In 1854, Boole published his famous book "Boolean Algebra". On this basis, after many years of development, the theoretical basis of modern computers - logical logic was formed. C.E. Sharnorn, one of the founders of information theory, pointed out in one of his master's thesis in 1938: The binary system can be used to express the logical relationships in Boolean algebra, using "1" to represent "True" and "0" to represent " False", and thus use the binary system to build a logical operation system. He also pointed out that based on Boolean algebra, any mechanical reasoning process can be as easy for electronic computers as ordinary calculations. Shannon related Boolean algebra to computer binary. Alan Mathison Turing, the "father of artificial intelligence" and the "father of computers" considered by von Neumann, was a genius. He was elected as a researcher of the Royal Academy at the age of 22. In 1936, he published a paper "On Computable Numbers and Their Application in Cryptography" strictly describes the logical structure of computers, proposes for the first time a general model of computers - the "Turing machine", and theoretically proves the possibility of such an abstract computer . During World War II, Turing worked in the British Foreign Office and designed the code-breaking machine (BOMBE), which was actually a special-purpose digital electronic computer with relays as components. The machine deciphered enemy codes time and time again, providing countermeasures contributed to the victory of the fascist war. In 1945, Turing began to design automatic computers at the National Institute of Physics in the United Kingdom. He elaborated on the idea of ??using subroutines to implement certain operations without the programmer needing to know the details of the machine's operation, laying the foundation for the birth of high-level computer languages. In 1950, Turing built a computer model machine "PIOLOT ACE" that embodied his design ideas. In October of the same year, Turing published the paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" and designed the famous Turing Test to test whether a computer has the same intelligence as a human through questions and answers. This thinking is still a core issue discussed in the computer academic community. one. This paper caused great shock in the computer academic community and laid the foundation for artificial intelligence theory. In order to commemorate Turing's great contribution to computer science, the American Computer Association established the "Turing Award" to be awarded every year to scientists who have made significant contributions to computer science. It can be called the "Nobel Prize" in the computer industry. After electronic computers have experienced the era of first-generation electron tubes, second-generation transistors, third-generation small and medium-sized integrated circuits, and fourth-generation large-scale and ultra-large-scale integrated circuits, various new technologies and new processes have led the development of computers toward miniaturization. and develop in the direction of giantization. The leader in pioneering the manufacturing of supercomputers was Dr. Clay, a famous American scientist known as the "Father of Supercomputers." Cary Kildall was born in Wisconsin, USA in 1929. He graduated from college with two degrees in mathematics and electrical engineering. In 1957, he founded CDC with Orlin and Anderson. They rented a warehouse for their offices. Due to the reasonable structure and fast running speed of the computers designed by Clay, they won the trust of users and received continuous orders. The company developed rapidly.
In 1961, the small company CDC, which accounted for only 1.6% of the computer market, and the giant IBM, which accounted for 82% of the market, became the only two winning companies in the computer industry. Under the leadership of Clay, CDC had only 14 engineers, 4 of whom were software engineers. The "little man" in the company with a total staff of 34 began to challenge the powerful "super big man" IBM. In 1964 , CDC Corporation successfully developed the CDC6600, a giant transistor computer that can perform 3 million operations per second and has a main memory capacity of 130,000 bytes. This machine is the world's earliest super-large computer used in the field of scientific research. It adopts "distributed computing" "structure, that is, distributing processing functions to the host machine and multiple auxiliary machines. This method is a major innovation in computer architecture. The CDC6600 is recognized as being designed and manufactured by the computer genius Clay, and is recognized as a major breakthrough in technology. and innovation. After that, Clay designed a variety of giant computers. He and all the company personnel worked together on wiring, modification, and wiring on the base board, and together they researched, designed, and manufactured. They made breakthroughs in many aspects, among which von Inerman " "Serial working mode" is "parallel working mode", breaking through tens of millions, billions and tens of billions of operations per second for the first time. From the hugely successful "CARY-1" computer to the development of the "CARY-4" computer, especially since the 1990s, the CARY supercomputer has firmly ranked among the supercomputers. Throne, occupying 60% of the world market share. The famous Dr. Clay continues to make progress and innovate, and is known as "the wise star of the nation" and "the father of the supercomputer". Clay died in a car accident in 1996. The development of microcomputers, as opposed to the development of supercomputers, has almost always been in a state of "warlord melee". In 1967, Hewlett-Packard (HP) successfully developed the "HP35" pocket calculator just after the emergence of large-scale integrated circuits and light-emitting diodes. It brought sales revenue of 120 million to HP. In February 1977, Steve Jobs, a young man who showed special talents in electronics but dropped out of college in his first year, and his two companions produced APPLE in a small garage. ) microcomputer was introduced to the market. In August 1981, "Big Blue" IBM announced to the world the birth of its first "personal computer", the PC, which became a household name in the marketing world. In the past two decades, the development of microcomputers has become more and more high-end and miniaturized. Laptops, handheld computers, and wrist-top computers have been successfully developed one after another and are practical and commercialized. The small "chip" displays unlimited charm and unlimited functions. This can't help but recall the birth of the world's first chip. At a computer expo in 1971, a huge advertisement: "Computer mounted on a chip, INTEL4004!" attracted all visitors. The world's first chip A microprocessor chip was born, and people were shocked by Intel's new creation. The main developer of the INTEL4004 chip is Tod Hoff. He was born in Manchester, USA in 1937. Although he grew up in the countryside, he has a strong interest in science. He likes magazines such as "Popular Science" and often writes some Small chemical experiments and electrical devices, majoring in electrical engineering in college. When he graduated from middle school, he invented the "train electronic detector" based on the principle of rail sound transmission. In his third year of college, he invented a "new lightning arrester", both of which were patented. After graduating from college, he applied for a research scholarship from the National Science Foundation to study semiconductor technology in depth, and later received a master's and doctorate from Stanford University. When INTEL was established in 1968, Hof was scouted by INTEL and appointed manager of the applied research department. At that time, the company's office conditions were very simple, and the equipment and houses were rented. "Necessity is the mother of success." Hof received an order from a Japanese merchant to produce a new, extremely complex desktop calculator chip.
Faced with a difficult problem, Hoff repeatedly considered the problem of implementing "computation, control, and storage" on the smallest chip. Inspiration finally came. Hoff immediately recorded: The first was to compress the logic circuit required by Japanese merchants into three chips. , that is, central processing unit, read-only memory, and random access memory; second, use the read-only memory to provide a driver for the central processor, and use the random access memory to store data. Then Hoff designed the logic, and his good helper Feijin drew the chip wiring blueprint. Messer participated in the research together, and Hoff finally got his wish. He integrated more than 2,000 transistors on the world's first microprocessor. The first microprocessor The processor chip INTEL4004 was born. This was of great epoch-making significance, and Hof was hailed as "one of the seven most influential scientists since World War II." Microsoft has always been closely linked to the name of Bill Gates. Bill Gates was born in Seattle in October 1955. His father is a lawyer and his mother is a teacher. His favorite book is the "World Book Encyclopedia" which he said he would not throw away even if it was replaced by a CD-ROM. 》. When he was in middle school, he and Paul, his long-term partner, began to use the POP-10 computer produced by the famous minicomputer manufacturer DEC. In 1968, Gates and Paul used the computer in a computer center and searched for the computer's password. Mistakes reveal talent in the computer field. Before Gates entered Harvard University to study law in 1974, Gates and Paul had already done a lot of work in computers, especially programming, and were somewhat famous. Their most successful start was the BASIC language interpreter they developed. Implanted into the "Altair" computer of MITS Corporation. In the summer of 1975, the two founded Microsoft in Albuquerque. From the beginning, they only owned the world's first standard software product in the microcomputer industry, that is, the 4KB interpreter capital for the "Altair" microcomputer, to today more than 20 years later. , the "Microsoft" trademark alone is worth more than 10 billion U.S. dollars, and the company's market value has exceeded 750 billion U.S. dollars. From 1981 when Microsoft acquired the ownership of MS-DOS, the PC operating system produced by IBM, to the Windows software in the 1990s, to the full shift to the networking field in 1994, to the development of TV-computer-network interactive software, Gates has always been The focus of people's attention. The closest competitor to Microsoft in web browsers is Netscape. Before Netscape developed Navigator, Internet users used Mosaic, the first graphical browser designed in 1993 by Mark Andreessen, a 23-year-old student at the University of Illinois. This software makes the World Wide Web of the Internet acceptable, and it suddenly increases the number of Internet users to more than 10 million. In fact, starting from Mosaic, thousands of people changed their lifestyles and learned to sit in front of the computer and roam the world. In 1994, Andreessen teamed up with Jim Clark, the founder of Silicon Graphics in "Jurassic Park," to create Netscape. By 1996, most of the WWW browsers on the Internet were Netscape navigators, and Netscape had the upper hand. But by 1997, Microsoft tightly integrated network software, browsers, etc. with operating system products, and seized a large amount of territory. Faced with powerful opponents, Andreessen constantly upgraded the navigator and developed an integrated WYSIWYG creative environment. He shouted, "We must run faster so that new products can maintain their leading position for more than 6 months." Strong competitive ability", on the other hand, they feel that "it will be exhausted if it reaches the limit". But people must know that the software giant Microsoft's ability to catch up has a lot to do with its reliance on strong financial resources to successfully purchase the Mosaic software developed by Anderson, and develop and upgrade the browser on this basis.