The Evolution of Computer Science
Top 5 Computer Science Facts
Computer science is the study of computers and their applications. It includes topics like programming, artificial intelligence, and cryptography.
English mathematician Ada Lovelace was the first computer programmer. She worked on an analytical engine that was never completed.
A computer virus can spread by infecting other programs with its code. It is similar to a real virus. John Lasseter was fired for promoting computer animation, but went on to create the movie Pixar.
Ada Lovelace
Aside from being the ill-fated daughter of one of England’s most poetic (and debauched) poets, Lord Byron, Ada Lovelace (1715-1852), also knows as ‘the first computer programmer,’ was fascinated by science and mathematics. She was praised for her ability to think logically and for her unique approach to maths.
At the age of 17, she met Charles Babbage, who later became her mentor. He was designing a series of mathematical inventions, including the Difference Engine and the more complex Analytical Machine. Although neither of these devices were ever built during their creators’ lifetimes, they influenced later computer design.
Babbage asked Lovelace to translate a French article by Luigi Menabrea about his Analytical Machine into English and add her own notes to it. She included a step-by-step description of how to use the device to calculate Bernoulli numbers, which is now regarded as the first computer algorithm. She also speculated that the Analytical Machine could do more than just calculations, which makes her a kind of proto-computer scientist.
Charles Babbage
A man of many talents, Charles Babbage is credited with creating the precursor to the modern computer. He is referred to as the “Father of Computing” and led an exceptional life. He was the first to create a mechanical machine capable of doing mathematical calculations. He also invented the ophthalmoscope and was involved in the creation of railway locomotives. He helped found the Astronomical Society and was a member of several clubs including the Ghost Club that investigated supernatural events.
From an early age, Babbage displayed a natural talent for mathematics. He began taking apart his toys to figure out how they worked and learned algebra on his own. When he entered Trinity College at Cambridge, it became clear that he knew far more than his tutors. Although he did not complete his Difference Engine or Analytical Engine, parts of his machines were later successfully built. He also played an important role in reforming scientific societies while calling for government and society to support science.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
Leibniz was a polymath who made significant contributions to philosophy, mathematics, engineering, physics, law, history, literature and theology. He designed a calculating machine that could add, subtract, multiply and divide; worked on the binary system; conceived the idea of a universal characteristic, or calculus ratiocinator, which resembles symbolic logic; and formulated a metaphysics in which souls and bodies are distinct entities.
He spent his last years trying to reconcile the thoughts of modern scientists and philosophers with the orthodox scholastic theology he had been taught as a child. He also tried to write a history of the Brunswick family that would advance his dynastic ambitions.
The Elector paid for Leibniz to travel to Paris to examine the manuscripts of Descartes and Pascal, from which he was able to construct the calculus he subsequently developed. He also worked on a number of other mathematical innovations, including infinite series and differential calculus. He was also a keen theorist and inventor of notations, such as s used for integration and d for differentials.
Microsoft
Microsoft is one of the world’s biggest computer technology companies and was founded on 4th April 1975 by childhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen. The company grew from being a small programming language business to an industry juggernaut with its fingers in every aspect of technological development.
Microsoft was not the first to create a graphical user interface (GUI) for computers; that honor goes to Xerox PARC in the 1970s. However, Microsoft popularized the GUI with Windows 1.0 in 1985.
While many know that Microsoft is the creator of Windows applications for PCs, not everyone knows that they also created and own the Xbox gaming console. In addition to this, the company has dabbled in a variety of different technologies, including watches and TV gadgets. They even invented the tablet computer before Apple made them famous in 2010. They also hold over 10,000 patents, but most of these are not for breakthrough technologies that can be seen on the surface; they’re for obscure aspects of software.