Научная электронная библиотека

Монографии, изданные в издательстве Российской Академии Естествознания

АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК В СФЕРЕ ИНФОРМАЦИОННЫХ И КОМПЬЮТЕРНЫХ ТЕХНОЛОГИЙ

Тюрина С. Ю.,

Unit 2. HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

WARM-UP

1. Who invented the first computer?

2. When did it happen?

3. Can we say that we are in the middle of the history of computer development?

SPEAKING ACTIVITIES

«Who invented the computer» is not a question with a simple answer. The answer is that many inventors contributed to the history of computers and that a computer is a complex piece of machinery made up of many parts, each of which can be considered a separate invention.

1. Look through the table. It covers some of the major milestones in computer history. Study the table and find some extra facts on computer history surfing suggested online resources. Then present your report in class using the phrases in the LANGUAGE BOX to help you.

Table 1. Computer history

Suggested online resources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v = iK0PT5q7GlE&feature = related

http://inventors.about.com/library/blcoindex.htm

http://www.historyofthings.com/history-of-computers

http://www.computerhistory.org/

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/category/computing.htm

http://www.compustory.com/

http://www.hpmuseum.org/

http://www.computer.org/portal/web/guest/sitemap?uri = http://www.computer.org//history/development/early.htm

http://www.pbs.org/nerds/timeline/

2. Read and translate the text about Charles Babbage.

Charles Babbage is widely regarded as the first computer pioneer and the great ancestral ure in the history of computing. He is often called the «father of computing» for his detailed plans for mechanical Calculating Engines, both the table-making Difference Engines (1821) and the far more ambitious Analytical Engines (1837), which were flexible and powerful punched-card controlled general purpose calculators, embodying many features which later reappeared in the modern computer.

3. Visit the Web sites and create a timeline of milestones of Charles Babbage life.

Suggested online resources:

http://www.cbi.umn.edu/about/babbage.html

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/onlinestuff/stories/babbage.aspx

http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Babbage.html

4. Visit the Web sites and create an Internet Scavenger Hunt of Charles Babbage life. Create a list of questions for classmates to answer with the help of these Web sites.

Charles Babbage: Pioneer of the Computer

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0691023778/thegreatideafind

The Charles Babbage Institute

http://www.cbi.umn.edu/about/babbage.html

Science Museum – Charles Babbage

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/onlinestuff/stories/babbage.aspx

Welcome to the Babbage pages

http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/babbage/

The Analytical Engine

http://www.fourmilab.ch/babbage/

Inventor of the Week

http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/babbage.html

Babbage Printer Finally Runs

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/710950.stm

Babbage’s Other Inventions

http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/Babbage.html

Charles Babbage

http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Babbage.html

5. Surf the Internet and create an Internet Scavenger Hunt of Bill Gates or Steve Jobs lives. Create a Hot List of Web sites. Make a list of questions for classmates to answer with the help of these Web sites.

6. A lot has changed since Charles Babbage introduced his Analytical Engines. Today, computers are extremely powerful and extremely small. In fact, the computer has been a tremendous engine in worldwide growth and becomes more and more sophisticated.

Work in small groups. Present your report in class about modern computers.

LISTENING ACTIVITIES

You are going to watch video on the history of computers. We can’t imagine living without a computer yet few people know the history of how this came to be.

1. Watch the video «History of computers» and answer the following questions.

Suggested online resource:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v = NbhbssXWDAE

1. What was the first calculation device?

2. What was the main concept of Quipu? What was it used for?

3. What device has made an industrial revolution? What was its advantage?

4. Why was punch card technology very important? What was Herman Hollerith famous for?

5. What was the major concept of his calculation device? What was the «dark side» of his device?

6. When were code machines developed? What for? What was their function?

7. What was the most important step in computer history?

8. What was the first programmable electronic computer?

9. What was the reason to develop such a computer? What sphere was the first programmable electronic computer used after the Second World War?

10. Why was computer communication system developed?

11. When did Arpanet appear?

2. Speak about the first computer communication net work.

3. Watch the BBC video on Alan Turing activity and answer the following questions.

Suggested online resource:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v = NbhbssXWDAE

1. Prove that first calculating machines had powerful calculation capacity.

2. When did Alan Turing publish his paper “On computable numbers”? What was the key idea of his paper?

3. Why was Alan Turing’s work kept in secret?

4. What was Enigma famous for?

5. When did the first electronic digital computer, Colossus, begin to operate?

6. Compare the key concepts of ENIAC and Colossus?

7. What did Prof. Donald Michie, Codebreaker at Bletchley Park in 1942-45, say about Alan Turing?

8. What project did Alan Turing try out at Manchester University?

9. When did Alan Turing commit suicide?

10. Which of Alan Turing’s dreams have come true?

4. Comment on the following statement: Today computers are universal machines.

5. Agree or disagree with the following statement: Colossus has an insignificant impact on development of computers. Use the phrases of agreeing or disagreeing to help you.