Strictly speaking, it is difficult to define who invented the computer. The original meaning of computer is "calculator", that is to say, humans invented computers, and their original purpose was to help process complex numerical operations. The concept of this artificial calculator can be traced back to the great French thinker Pascal in the seventeenth century. Pascal's father served as tax commissioner. The currency system at that time was not decimal, which made calculations very troublesome. In order to assist his father, Pascal invented the first calculator that could perform addition and subtraction operations using the gear principle. Later, the German mathematician Leibniz improved it and invented a calculator that could perform multiplication and division operations. Although there were many improvements and improvements in the functions of calculators after that, the real electric calculator had to wait until 1944 AD to be manufactured. The first machine that can truly be called a computer was born in the United States in 1946. It was invented by Mao Qili and Eckert, and its name was ENIAC. This computer used vacuum tubes to process signals, so it was bulky (it took up a whole room), consumed a lot of power (everyone in the town knew about it because the lights in every house were dimmed when it was in use!), and had very low memory capacity. (Only more than 100 words), but it is already a major progress in human technology. We usually refer to computers that use vacuum tubes as the first generation computers. The first generation of computers was as big as two classrooms. It was much different in size from the personal computers we generally use today. The computer parts at that time were vacuum tubes (which can no longer be found) and the archived items were punched cards. Without the previous design concepts and the invention of the computer, it is still difficult to determine who invented the computer. Although the famous scientist John von Neumann (Annotation: often transliterated as "von Neumann") is often called the "father of modern computers" by future generations for his talent in the scientific world; however, von Neumann K is not the real The inventor of the modern computer. That honor should go to the two men who designed and built the first digital electronic computer—John Mauchly and Presper Eckert. The story of how they built the first computer in just three years and how they fought for fame over the next 30 years is a story woven with great wisdom and deep regret. Who invented the computer? In computer class, the teacher is likely to say this: the world's first electronic computer was called "Eniac" (original text is Eniac, and some people earlier translated it into Chinese as "Iliaq") , invented by Americans Mocherli and Ecateky in 1946. If you take a computer knowledge test, this answer is not wrong; but if you are teaching computer history to others, this answer is wrong. Because that's not the case. As early as 1947, that is, the second year after the emergence of "Eniac", Mocherli and Ecateky filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent Office, but the patent was not published until 1964. The reason was that the patent The bureau still has doubts about their claim of "the world's first electronic computer". Moreover, after the patent was announced, the American company Hanniway still continued production without purchasing the patent from the patentee. For this reason, the company was accused of violating patent laws. But Hanniway Company was not convinced. They believed that the real inventor of the electronic computer was not Mocherli and Ecateky, but Atanasov. So the lawsuit went to court. After 125 hearings, the court finally officially announced on October 19, 1973: "Mocherli and Ecateky did not invent the world's first electronic computer, but used the idea in Atanasov's invention..." Atanosov is a physicist working at the University of Iowa in the United States. The heavy calculation process in the research made him extremely difficult, so he decided to engage in electronic computer research. One night in the winter of 1937, he felt frustrated because a problem in his research was lingering in his mind and could not be solved, so he drove to a roadside tavern in Illinois to drink to relieve his boredom. After drinking two glasses of wine in a row, the method of using capacitors as memory elements to regenerate memory suddenly flashed into his mind, and from this he came up with the most primitive concept now called "logic circuit". Starting from this original idea, and after two years of hard research and experiments, the world's first electronic computer with binary logic operations as its core was finally made in December 1939.
However, it was the Second World War at the time, and the University of Iowa did not apply for a patent, nor did it publish the information later. As for what kind of work this "already made" computer had been used for, no one knew. The lawsuit caused by patent infringement also triggered a dispute over who invented the "world's first electronic computer". After many court investigations and verifications, it was finally proven that the right to invent the world's first electronic computer should belong to Atanasov. For this reason, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers decided to award him its highest honor: the HOLLEY Medal. Although many novels, movies and "unofficial histories" about World War II often mention that the US military used the newly invented electronic computers to decipher the secret codes of the German and Japanese armies, firstly, it is not yet clear whether such a thing really happened. Documents and archives officially published by the state can be used as a basis; secondly, even if electronic computers were indeed used in World War II, there is no documentary evidence to support whether the electronic computers invented by Atanasov were used. Therefore, few people know whether the "world's first electronic computer" invented by Atanasov was actually built and officially used, where it was built, and what its appearance looked like. Another theory is that the inventor of the world's first electronic computer was not an American, but a British person, and the time was also at the end of the 1930s. In 1940, the war madman Hitler ordered his Air Marshal G?ring to implement Operation "Sea Lion", with a deadline of September 17 to destroy the British Air Force. From then on, the most intense and cruel British air war in history began. Under the command of Marshal Dowding, the British Air Force defeated the large with less, the weak defeated the strong, and defeated an enemy twice its size at a very small cost. It finally broke the myth that the "German army is invincible" and shattered Hitler. The ambition to invade the whole world. How could Marshal Dowding achieve such a great victory? For many years, it has been an unexplained mystery: a few days after the unprecedented victory in the Battle of Britain, Marshal Dowding, the number one contributor, was unexplainably removed from his position as Air Marshal, and a year later, he was forced to retire. . It was not until 1975 that the British authorities revealed the truth: It turned out that Britain had invented the world's first electronic computer at that time, and it was by relying on this "magic weapon" that Dowding successfully deciphered Hitler's proud cipher machine. The top-secret code sent mastered the major military plans of the German command, thus achieving the great victory of the British Air War. In order to prevent Hitler from learning that Britain had electronic computers, Dowding carried forward the spirit of self-sacrifice and "retired after his success." So, why did the UK wait until 1975 to reveal this secret? It turns out that the British intelligence agency has an extremely strict rule: no one is allowed to leak any secrets within 30 years. It was precisely because of this provision that the honor of inventing the world's first computer fell to the Americans, and the time was delayed for several years, but the inventor's name was not even handed down. Of course, there are many "unofficial" stories of this kind and they are widely circulated. Some even say that the German army invented "the world's first electronic computer" earlier. However, this legend has no legal documents to prove it. It can only stay at the stage of legend forever and cannot be recognized by people, especially the scientific community. However, Atanasov built "the world's first electronic computer" in 1939, and the conclusion was reached after careful investigation by the US court. It should be said that it is relatively reliable and even authoritative. What the "world's first computer" made by Atanasov actually looked like, because there is no published information, most people have no way of knowing; what the "world's first electronic computer" invented by the unknown British hero looked like, and more No one can guess. There is information on the "world's first computer" built by Machelli and Ecateky in 1946. It was a real "giant computer": the whole machine used 18,000 electron tubes, consumed 150 kilowatts/hour, covered an area of ??167 square meters, and was as tall as a three-story building, but its computing speed was The clock only has 5,000 times. Moreover, the input calculation procedures are very complicated, and the long and numerous punch cards can make the brains of experts hurt. Once a problem occurs, the experts will run from downstairs to upstairs, and from upstairs to downstairs again. They are so busy that they are sweating profusely, and it is difficult to diagnose the problem.
The supercomputers at that time were expensive and difficult to build. They were mainly used for complex calculations of large numbers, such as the calculation of astronomical figures and the calculation of deciphering secret codes. Therefore, the early translation of Computer as "electronic computer" should be said to be very appropriate. of. Who invented the world's first computer? With the development of modern science and technology, the application of computers in people's lives has become more and more popular, from desktop office systems to family life, and from adults to teenagers and children. In life, there are more and more young friends who understand computers and are proficient in operating computers. However, if we want to trace the origin of computers, do you know who invented the world's first computer? The world's first fully operational automatic computer was born at Harvard University in 1944. The people who built this computer were Professor Ayba of Harvard University and a group of engineers from International Business Machines Corporation. This computer, called "Harvard Computer One," could retain 23-digit sums and calculate products in four seconds. However, the main body of this computer is electrical parts and mechanical parts, but there are no electronic parts. It was not until after 1946 that the first generation of computers, the tube computer, was born. Since its development, it has gone through five generations of electronic tubes, transistors, and integrated circuits.