P.O.

Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria

CSC 101: Introduction To Computer Systems (2 Units)

OUTLINE
●Information Technology (IT): An Historical perspective

●Storage and retrieval of information

●Advantages of IT

●Evolution of computers

02/24/2024
 Overview
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 MODULE STRUCTURE
 Module will entirely be based on instructions and class discussions/activities

 There will be test(s) and assignment(s)

 Module is split between four lecturers who will cover various aspects of the course

 Examination – Based on material presented in the notes, lectures developed through

assignment essays. Exams will be 2 – 3 hours in length and evenly split over all covered
topics. The paper will cover 70% of the 2 Units

 Continuous Assessments - Class works, Assignments, Attendance and Tests. Will constitute
30% of the 2 Units

P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024

 Objectives
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 At the end of the modular instructions, the student should be able to:
 Understand the intricacies of the information systems

 Why have an information system?

 Advantages of information technology
 Components of an information technology infrastructure

 Evolution of computers

 Thoroughly understand the various generations of computers viz., first

generation, second generation, third generation, fourth and fifth generation
computers

P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024

 Lecture and learning
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 Mixture of slides and learning

 Discussion

 You may have to go and learn topics on your own

 Take note of what I say, others say and what I write

 Ask questions, make comments, argue within the bounds of reason

 Read Reference Materials– though lectures and slides would be enough

 Tutorial questions, assignments, essays are good practising tools for exam

P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024

 Information Technology: Introduction
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 “Information technology” has been around since the beginning of time
 Think of the story of creation or the theory of evolution
 animals displaying courtship behavior

 man’s means of long-distant communication during the stone age

 the Egyptians during the era of the Pharaohs

 letters through the middle ages

 codes and lately

 electronic modes of communication such as fax, telephone, the internet and etc.

P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024

 Historical Evolution of IT: PRE-HISTORIC AGE
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 PRE-HISTORIC AGE (3000 B.C. – 1450 A.D)

 Human used language and speech or petroglyphs to propagate bidirectional communication
 Then came Phoenician alphabet
 The counting table was invented in China in 400B.C. and Abacus was used in China around
500 B.C. [3]
 PETROGLYPHS [1]

 Following the development of alphabets, we developed pens and the paper

 Early forms involved marks in wet clay and then we made paper out of papyrus plants
 The Chinese made paper out of rags somewhere in this era
 Written information necessitated the invention of books and libraries
 The Egyptians invented the scroll

P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024

 Historical Evolution of IT: PRE-HISTORIC AGE
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 The first numbering systems (numbers 1 – 9) were invented in India during this age
(~1000A.D..)
 The number “0” was subsequently invented in 775 years afterward in 875AD
 The Roman Abacus was used about 2400 B.C in Babylonia [2]
 After most of these developments were made, people started developing “machines” or
calculators that could:
 Execute automated calculations
 Control processes and data (or information), and
 Control continuous processes or discrete devices

P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024

 Historical Evolution of IT: PRE-HISTORIC AGE
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 The Mechanical Abacus

P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024

 Historical Evolution of IT: Mechanical Age
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 The conditions created by the flurry of inventions during the pre-historic age brought about the
mechanical age
 The Mechanical Age (approx. 1450 – 1840 A.D.)
 Was the precursor to our electronic information age

 In 1623: Wilhelm Schickard, a German polymath, designed a calculating clock: it was destroyed in
a fire accident during its construction in 1624 and Schickard left the project. Two sketches of it
were discovered in 1957; too late to have any impact on the development of mechanical calculators

 1624: Blaise Pascal invented the mechanical calculator (called the Pascaline) after some creative
work and subsequently built 20 more prototypes in the following ten years.

 Approx. 1672: Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz pioneered the Stepped Reckoner and his famous
cylinders while adding direct multiplication and division to the Pascaline. Leibnitz’s invention waas
far ahead of his time. A working model did not appear until 1791 – long after Leibnitz was dead
and gone.

P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024

 Historical Evolution of IT: Mechanical Age
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 Schickard’s Slide Rule

P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024

 Historical Evolution of IT: Mechanical Age
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 Blaise Pascal’s Pascaline

P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024

 Historical Evolution of IT: Mechanical Age
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 1903: In Japan, Ryōichi Yazu patented a mechanical calculator called the Yazu
Arithmometer consisting of a single cylinder and 22 gears, and employing the mixed
base-2 and base-5 number system – well-versed by users of the soroban (Japanese
abacus). Carry and end of calculation were automated. He sold over 200 units mostly
to Japaanese government agencies such as the Ministry of War and agricultural
experiment stations
 In 1801, Joseph-Marie Jacquard developed a loom in which the pattern being woven
was controlled by punched cards. The series of cards could be changed without
changing the mechanical design of the loom. This was a landmark achievement in
programmability. His machine was an improvement over similar weaving looms.
Punch cards were preceded by punch bands, as in the machine proposed by Basile
Bouchon.

P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024

 Historical Evolution of IT: Electro-Mechanical Age
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 Jacquard’s revolutionized textile-weaving methods opened the way for the

electromechanical systems that followed
 Jacquard’s invention also provided model for the input and output of data in electro-
mechamical (abbreviated as e:m henceforward) systems
 Enter Charles Babbage (11791 – 1871):
 Generally considered the father of modern computers
 His difference engine (1833) and analytical engine (1837) – which significantly
improved on Jacquard’s punched-tapes - foreshadowed the creation of modern
computers
 Led a terrific life: invented the cowcatcher, dynamometer, standard railroad gauge,
uniform postal rates, occulting lights for lighthouses, Greenwich time signals,
heliograph opthalmoscope
P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024
 Historical Evolution of IT: Electro-Mechanical Age
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 Babbage’s difference engine was possible because of the advances that occurred after
the industrial revolution
 The difference machine never reached full fruition in its development

 Babbage drew up the blueprint for the difference machine as a Cambridge Univ.
Undergrad
 He abandoned the design for a much-better

Analytic-engine

Charles Babbage’s difference machine

P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024

 Historical Evolution of IT: Electro-Mechanical Age
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 Babbage’s analytical engine was a general-purpose programmable computer,

employing punch cards for input and a steam engine for power, using the positions of
gears and shafts to represent numbers
 The Analytical Engine was intended to use loops of Jacquard's punched cards to
control an automatic calculator, which could make decisions based on the results of
previous computations. This machine was also intended to employ several features
subsequently used in modern computers, including sequential control, branching, and
looping
 Though the design was sound and the plans were fairly accurate/debuggable, the
project suffered due to rows with the chief machinist building parts for it. All parts for
his machine had to be manually made. Small errors in each item could result in large
discrepancies.
P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024
 Historical Evolution of IT: Electro-Mechanical Age
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 Babbage’s machine required lots of interconnected parts which demanded extreme

accuracy, tolerance and sensitivity – requirements that were not available at that time
 With quarrels with artisans and the pace of tech. advancement, the British Government
had to discontinue funding for the project

Charles Babbage’s Analytical Machine

P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024

 References
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[1] Brady W., and Elkner J., History of Information Technology, http://
openbookproject.net/courses/intro2ict/history/history.html, 2011. [Accessed
on 5/4/2014]
[2] Shubham Shrivastava and Raghvendra Singh, Computer Project on History
of Computers
[3] Davis, Ruth M., Evolution of Computers, SCIENCE VOL 195

P.O. Ogunmolu: Computer Science Department, AAUA, Nigeria 02/24/2024