Chapter:2 (History of Computer Development)

 

Write very short answer of the following questions.

a)     Who is considered as the father of computer science?

Ans: Charles Babbage is considered as the father of computer science.

b)    When was abacus developed?

Ans: Abacus was developed 2500 to 3000 years ago.

c)     c) Who was John Napier?

Ans: John Napier was Scottish mathematician who developed Napier's Bone in 1617 AD.

d)    Is Lady Augusta Ada Lovelace is known as first programmer?

Ans: Yes Lady Augusta Ada Lovelace is known as first programmer.

e)     Which was the first computer brought in Nepal?

Ans: IBM 1401 was the first computer brought in Nepal.

f)      How much time did ICL 2950/10 took to complete the census of 2038 B.S. in Nepal?

Ans: ICL 2950/10 complete the census of 2038 B.S. in Nepal quite faster then IBM 1401 which was used for the census of 2028 B.S. and took 1 year 7 months.

g)     Which university did Howard Aiken belong to?

Ans: Howard Aiken belong to Harvard University.

h)    How many vacuum tubes were consisted in ENIAC?

Ans: 18000 vacuum tubes were consisted in ENIAC.

Q.7. Write short answer of the following questions.

1. a)     How did early people calculate?

Ans: Early people used different means to count in informal way such as using pebbles, drawing lines, scratching on walls etc.

1. b)    Why is Charles Babbage known as father of computer science?

Ans: Charles Babbage is known as the father of computer science because he had led to the foundation of modern computer in his analytical engine including the concept of input, process, output and storage.

1. c)     Write the features of Mark-I.

Ans: Features of Mark-I:

                 i.          It used 18000 vacuum tubes.

                  ii.            It consisted seven lakh and fifty thousand parts.

                iii.            It was 51 feet long, 8 feet height and 3 feet wide.

               iv.           

It consumed huge amount of electricity.

1. d)    Draw a the figure of Abacus showing its parts.

Ans: 

a)     Write the contribution of Blaise Pascal in the development of modern calculating device.

Ans: Blaise Pascal invented first mechanical calculator which could do addition and subtraction directly and could do multiplication and division by repeating addition and subtraction respectively. The basic principle of his calculator is still used in water meters and modern day odometers.

b)    Mention the major parts with their functions of analytical engine.

Ans: Analytical engine was fully programmable calculating device which was able to perform calculations on the basic of input, process and output.

The analytical engine had the following major parts with different functions.

Parts	Purpose
a. Punched cards	To input data and instructions.
b. Mill	To perform basic mathematical computations.
c. Mechanical memory unit	To store data and instructions.
d. Gears and shafts:	To control and transfer data between mill and storage section.
e. Suitable output device	To output information

Write long answer of the following questions.

a)     a)Explain the history of computing devices of mechanical era.

Ans: This was the era in which mechanical devices were used for computing manually. The devices developed in this era became basis for the invention of electromechanical device. All the machine were based on moving parts, operated completely by machines and they did not have any logical control in operation. Example: Abacus, Napier's Bone, Slide Rule etc.

b)    Compare and discuss between electromechanical and electronic era of computer.

Ans: In Electromechanical era all the parts of computers were electronic and mechanical based and the computational device were partly programmable. Some examples are: MARK-I, ABC etc.  But in electronic era all the mechanical device were replaced by fully electronic circuits sot that calculations were based on digital mechanism. Eg. ENIAC, EDSAC etc.

c)     b) Describe the history of computer in Nepal in your own words.

Ans: There is no any remarkable contribution of Nepal for the development of computer. Nepal has lately entered in the computer age. The first computer IBM 1401 was brought in Nepal for the census of 2028 B.S. In 2031 B.S. His majesty's government established a separate branch named Data Processing Center for the electronic data processing purpose. In 2037 B.S. NCC (National Computer Center) started to provide necessary training and technical support. ICL2950/10 was bought to process the census of 2038.

 Government has formed High Level Commission for Information Technology and also formulated IT (Information Technology) in 2057. Cyber law was released in 2061 and reviewed in 2063 B.S. Now the private level organizations and government are playing important role for the development of ICT in Nepal.