WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: What Was the First Computer?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and this is another classic brain Stuff episode.

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<v Speaker 1>In this one, we dig into the history of computers.

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<v Speaker 1>Although the first one was designed in the eighteen hundreds,

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<v Speaker 1>it wouldn't be built for another one hundred and fifty years.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here, who invented the first computer?

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<v Speaker 1>One could argue that the abacus was the first computer,

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<v Speaker 1>or its descendant, the slide rule, invented by William Ottred

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<v Speaker 1>in sixteen twenty two, but the first computer resembling today's

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<v Speaker 1>modern machines was the Analytical Engine, a device conceived and

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<v Speaker 1>designed by British mathematician Charles Babbage between eighteen thirty three

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<v Speaker 1>and eighteen seventy one. Before Babbage came along, our computers

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<v Speaker 1>were people who sat around all day adding and subtracting

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<v Speaker 1>numbers and entering the results into tables. The tables then

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<v Speaker 1>appeared in books so that other people could use them

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<v Speaker 1>to complete tasks such as launching artillery shells accurately or

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<v Speaker 1>calculating taxes. It was, in fact, a mammoth number crunching

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<v Speaker 1>project that inspired Babbage in the first place. Napoleon Bonaparte

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<v Speaker 1>initiated the project in seventeen ninety when he ordered a

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<v Speaker 1>switch from the old imperial system of measurements to the

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<v Speaker 1>new metric system. For ten years, scores of human computers

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<v Speaker 1>made the necessary conversions and completed the tables. Bonaparte was

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<v Speaker 1>never able to publish the tables, however, and they sat

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<v Speaker 1>collecting dust in the Academy the Sciences in Paris. In

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen nineteen, Babbage visited Paris and viewed the unpublished manuscript

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<v Speaker 1>with page after page of tables. If only, he wondered,

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<v Speaker 1>there was a way to produce such tables faster, with

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<v Speaker 1>less manpower and fewer mistakes. He thought of the many

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<v Speaker 1>marvels generated by the Industrial Revolution. If creative and hard

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<v Speaker 1>working inventors could develop the cotton gin and the steam locomotive,

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<v Speaker 1>then why not a machine to make calculations. Babbage returned

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<v Speaker 1>to England and decided to build just such a machine.

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<v Speaker 1>His first vision was something he dubbed the different Engine,

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<v Speaker 1>which worked on the principle of finite differences, or making

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<v Speaker 1>complex mathematical calculations by repeated edition without using multiplication or division.

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<v Speaker 1>He secured government funding in eighteen twenty four and spent

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<v Speaker 1>eight years perfecting his idea. In eighteen thirty two, he

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<v Speaker 1>produced a functioning prototype of his tablemaking machine, only to

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<v Speaker 1>find his funding had run out. Some people might have

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<v Speaker 1>been discouraged, but not Babbage. Instead of simplifying his design

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<v Speaker 1>to make the difference engine easier to build, he turned

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<v Speaker 1>his attention to an even grander idea, the analytical Engine,

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<v Speaker 1>a new kind of mechanical computer that could make even

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<v Speaker 1>more complex calculations, including multiplication and division. The basic parts

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<v Speaker 1>of the analytical Engine resemble the components of any computer

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<v Speaker 1>sold on the market today. It featured two hallmarks of

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<v Speaker 1>any modern machine, a central processing unit or CPU, and

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<v Speaker 1>memory a Babbage, of course, didn't use those terms. He

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<v Speaker 1>called the CPU the mill, and the memory the store.

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<v Speaker 1>He also had a device, the reader, to input instructions,

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<v Speaker 1>as well as a way to record on paper results

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<v Speaker 1>generated by the machine. Babbage called this output device a printer,

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<v Speaker 1>which makes perfect sense to me. Babbage's new invention existed

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<v Speaker 1>almost entirely on paper. He kept voluminous notes and sketches

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<v Speaker 1>about his computers, nearly five thousand pages worth, and although

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<v Speaker 1>he never built a single production model of the Analytical Engine.

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<v Speaker 1>He had a clear vision about how the machine would

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<v Speaker 1>look and work, borrowing the same technology used by the

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<v Speaker 1>Jakard Loom, which was a weaving machine developed in eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>oh four that made it possible to create a variety

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<v Speaker 1>of cloth patterns automatically. Babbage's data would be entered on

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<v Speaker 1>punched cards. Up to one thousand, fifty digit numbers could

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<v Speaker 1>be held in the computer's store. Punched cards would also

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<v Speaker 1>carry the instructions which the machine could execute out of

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<v Speaker 1>sequential order. A single attendant would oversee the whole operation,

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<v Speaker 1>but steam would power it, turning cranks, moving cams and rods,

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<v Speaker 1>and spinning gear wheels. But if Babbage was the genius

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<v Speaker 1>behind the Analytical Engine, then A. Gusta Ada Byron or

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<v Speaker 1>Ada Lovelace was its publicist and arguably the very first

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<v Speaker 1>computer programmer. She met Babbage at a party when she

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<v Speaker 1>was seventeen and became fascinated by the idea of the

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<v Speaker 1>analytical Engine. From that chance meeting grew a strong dynamic relationship.

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<v Speaker 1>Lovelace was gifted in mathematics and offered Babbage numerous insights.

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<v Speaker 1>In eighteen forty three, she published an influential set of

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<v Speaker 1>notes describing the analytical engine. She also added in some

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<v Speaker 1>sage predictions, calculating that Babbage's mechanical computers might one day

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<v Speaker 1>act upon other things besides numbers, and even compose elaborate

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<v Speaker 1>and scientific pieces of music of any degree of complexity. Unfortunately,

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<v Speaker 1>the technology of the day could not deliver on their

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<v Speaker 1>ambitious designs. It wasn't until nineteen ninety one that their

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<v Speaker 1>particular ideas were finally translated into a functioning computer. That's

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<v Speaker 1>when the Science Museum in London built two Babbage's exact specifications,

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<v Speaker 1>a difference Engine. It stands eleven feet long and seven

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<v Speaker 1>feet tall that's about three meters long and two meters tall,

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<v Speaker 1>contains eight thousand moving hearts and weighs fifteen tons or

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<v Speaker 1>just over thirteen and a half metric tons. A copy

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<v Speaker 1>of the machine was built and shipped to the Computer

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<v Speaker 1>History Museum in Mountain View, California, where it remained on

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<v Speaker 1>display until December of twenty ten. Neither device would function

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<v Speaker 1>on a desktop, but they are no doubt the first

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<v Speaker 1>computers and precursors to the modern PC. Today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on the article who Invented the First Computer? On HowStuffWorks?

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<v Speaker 1>Dot com written by William Harris and Chris Palette. Brainstep

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<v Speaker 1>is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com.

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<v Speaker 1>It is produced by Tyler Klain. Four more podcasts from

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