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The von neumann computer model essay
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Throughout the annals of history, there have been countless number of pioneers and inventors of computer technology, but the one that has had the most lasting impact has been John von Neumann. Through his discoveries and reports, von Neumann established his eminent von Neumann architecture that laid the foundation for computer architecture that is still in use today on modern machines. In the majority of computers today, we use the foundation of the von Neumann architecture by using the fetch-decode-execute cycle that he wrote about in the First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC (Reed, 2011, p. 107). Compared with other pioneers, such as Alan Turing, J. Presper Eckert, and Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, their contributions pale in comparison to the …show more content…
Presper Eckert was the designer of one of the earliest computers that utilized John von Neumann’s “stored-program” architecture, the EDVAC (Reed, 2011, p. 106). Without John von Neumann, Eckert’s computer would not have gained the success that it did with that specific architecture. The EDVAC was the first computer to utilize von Neumann’s architecture, which also resulted in focusing more on the programming aspect of a computer rather than the wiring. We can definitively say that, compared with Eckert’s contribution, John von Neumann’s contribution is the reason we have “programmable” computers in the first place. His contribution made programming a lot more important, which is one of the most important aspects of computers in our present day lives. Similarly, we can also take Grace Hopper’s contribution into account. She is credited with the development of some of the first high-level programming languages that are used in computers today, one of them known as COBOL (Reed, 2011, p. 109). However, her contribution would not have been possible had von Neumann not created his model. It is because of von Neumann’s model that high level programming became a bigger focus of computers. These inventors and pioneers could finally focus on how to make a computer more efficient by developing programming languages instead of focusing on manual wiring of switches and cables. This also verifies that von Neumann’s contribution single-handedly lead to various other …show more content…
Not only did his architecture pave the way for our personal computers, but the foundation of his technological discovery is based in the majority of embedded systems, such as cars, smart TVs, and even smart homes. Although he is not the only one who made an impact on our world of computers, he is by far the one who had the greatest impact by allowing us the freedom to focus on making computers more efficient and agile. The computers of today are less error prone and do not require the manual setup that they did back before von Neumann created his architecture. His model allows many of us to enjoy computers for tasks other than computation. We can focus on designing, developing, and creating amazing things through a machine that utilizes his foundation. The fetch-decode-execute and “stored-program” principle in memory allows many of us access to information that we would not have easily had back during his time period. His impact has been one of the greatest on our present day lives, especially lives which revolve around
Admiral Grace Murray Hopper is known as one of the first female computer scientists and the mother of Corbel programming. Hopper was born on December 9, 1906 in New York City and was the oldest of three children. Even as a child she loved played with gadgets, disassembling items such an alarm clocks to determine how they worked (Norman). Hopper parents and siblings had a huge impact on her life. Her father who was a successful insurance broker inspired Hopper to pursue higher education and not limit her to typical feminine roles during that time (Norman). Hopper excelled in school graduating from Vassar College in 1928 with a BA in mathematic and physics (Rajaraman 2). She later went on to receive her MA in mathematics from Yale University in 1930 and her PhD in 1943 (Rajaraman 2).
Grace Murray Hopper, born December 9, 1906, was a Math professor that enlisted in the United States Navy at the start of World War II. Over the time of her enlistment, Hopper developed several new programming languages, including COBOL, which is still one of the most used programming languages today. Hopper was also one of the first people to coin the term “computer bug”. Over the course of her life, Grace Hopper influenced many people through her service in the military and led a movement in modern electronics through her work.
...ed, his natural writing skills helped his elegant code become brought to life to form the technological advancement of his era and give loads of thinking for the next generation to come and add on or change something that will help the world grow.
People have been in awe of computers since they were first invented. At first scientist said that computers would only be for government usage only. “Then when the scientists saw the potential computers had, scientist then predicted that by 1990 computers may one day invade the home of just about ever citizen in the world” (“History” Internet), the scientists were slightly wrong, because by 1990 computers were just beginning to catch on. Then a few years later when scientists when to major corporations to get help with a special project, the corporations said no, because computers would just be a fad and they wouldn’t make much money off of it. “By definition Abacus is the first computer (the proper definition of a computer is one who or that which computes) ever invented” (Internet).
Turing continued working on the digital computer and ideas in artificial intelligence until he died on June 7, 1954. He was found with a half-eaten apple loaded with cyanide, the half-eaten apple a familiar symbol of innocence. Some say he had committed suicide over an embarrassing incident with a 19-year old student , while his mother says he was just performing another experiment with household chemicals and became careless. Whichever it may be, Alan Turing passed away and left the world with many raw ideas to work out. In my opinion, the biggest contribution that he left with us was his idea of a single machine running off a finite number of algorithms to perform multiple tasks. This being the vision of the computers we all use today.
Goldstine, Herman H. "Computers at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School." The Jayne Lecture. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol 136, No.1. January 24, 1991
Although the majority of people cannot imagine life without computers, they owe their gratitude toward an algorithm machine developed seventy to eighty years ago. Although the enormous size and primitive form of the object might appear completely unrelated to modern technology, its importance cannot be over-stated. Not only did the Turing Machine help the Allies win World War II, but it also laid the foundation for all computers that are in use today. The machine also helped its creator, Alan Turing, to design more advanced devices that still cause discussion and controversy today. The Turing Machine serves as a testament to the ingenuity of its creator, the potential of technology, and the glory of innovation.
...ere are gears used to select which numbers you want. Though Charles Babbage will always be credited with making the first “true” computer, and Bill Gates with popularizing it, Blaise Pascal will always have a place among the first true innovator of the computer. There is even a programming language called Pascal or Object Pascal which is an early computer program.
Ceruzzi, P. E. (1998). A history of modern computing (pp. 270-272). London, England: The MIT Press.
Von Neumann architecture, or the Von Neumann model, stems from a 1945 computer architecture description by the physicist, mathematician, and polymath John von Neumann and others. This describes a design architecture for an electronic digital computer with a control unit containing an instruction register and program counter , external mass storage, subdivisions of a processing unit consisting of arithmetic logic unit and processor registers, a memory to store both data and commands, also an input and output mechanisms. The meaning of the term has grown to mean a stored-program computer in which a command fetch and a data operation cannot occur at the same time because they share a common bus. This is commonly referred to as the Von Neumann bottleneck and often limits the performance of a system.
Douglas Engelbart, who was an electrical engineer and former naval radar technician, saw computers as more than number crunchers. “He knew from his days as a radar technician that screens could be used to display digital data, and therefore assumed it was possible to use a screen to display output from a computer (Mitchell).” It was a good ten years before Engelbart had the resources to build the devices that he had been thinking of for so long. Then invention that he knew would change the way computer w...
We have the microprocessor to thank for all of our consumer electronic devices, because without them, our devices would be much larger. Microprocessors are the feat of generations of research and development. Microprocessors were invented in 1972 by Intel Corporation and have made it so that computers could shrink to the sizes we know today. Before, computers took a room because the transistors or vacuum tubes were individual components. Microprocessors unified the technology on one chip while reducing the costs. Microprocessor technology has been the most important revolution in the computer industry in the past forty years, as microprocessors have allowed our consumer electronics to exist.
In 500 B.C. the abacus was first used by the Babylonians as an aid to simple arithmetic. In 1623 Wihelm Schickard (1592 - 1635) invented a "Calculating Clock". This mechanical machine could add and subtract up to 6 digit numbers, and warned of an overflow by ringing a bell. J. H. Mueller comes up with the idea of the "difference engine", in 1786. This calculator could tabulate values of a polynomial. Muellers attempt to raise funds fails and the project was forgotten. Scheutz and his son Edward produced a 3rd order difference engine with a printer in 1843 and their government agreed to fund their next project.
The history of the computer dates back all the way to the prehistoric times. The first step towards the development of the computer, the abacus, was developed in Babylonia in 500 B.C. and functioned as a simple counting tool. It was not until thousands of years later that the first calculator was produced. In 1623, the first mechanical calculator was invented by Wilhelm Schikard, the “Calculating Clock,” as it was often referred to as, “performed it’s operations by wheels, which worked similar to a car’s odometer” (Evolution, 1). Still, there had not yet been anything invented that could even be characterized as a computer. Finally, in 1625 the slide rule was created becoming “the first analog computer of the modern ages” (Evolution, 1). One of the biggest breakthroughs came from by Blaise Pascal in 1642, who invented a mechanical calculator whose main function was adding and subtracting numbers. Years later, Gottfried Leibnez improved Pascal’s model by allowing it to also perform such operations as multiplying, dividing, taking the square root.
The fist computer, known as the abacus, was made of wood and parallel wires on which beads were strung. Arithmetic operations were performed when the beads were moved along the wire according to “programming” rules that had to be memorized by the user (Soma, 14). The second earliest computer, invented by Blaise Pascal in 1694, was a “digital calculating machine.” Pascal designed this first known digital computer to help his father, who was a tax collector. Pascal’s computer could only add numbers, and they had to be entered by turning dials (Soma, 32). It required a manual process like its ancestor, the abacus. Automation was introduced in the early 1800’s by a mathematics professor named Charles Babbage. He created an automatic calculation machine that was steam powered and stored up to 1000 50-digit numbers. Unlike its two earliest ancestors, Babbage’s invention was able to perform various operations. It relied on cards with holes punched in them, which are called “punch cards.” These cards carried out the programming and storing operations for the machine. Unluckily, Babbage’s creation flopped due to the lack of mechanical precision and the lack of demand for the product (Soma, 46). The machine could not operate efficiently because technology was t adequate to make the machine operate efficiently Computer interest dwindled for many years, and it wasn’t until the mid-1800’s that people became interested in them once again.