History of Computer Science

Computer Science has a rich history as it should, being “the science of using computers to solve problems”. There is no better way to live the easy life than getting a computer to do your work for you. Computers have changed the way the modern world works – in a big way. We depend on computers to do anything from basic mathematical calculations all the way up to rendering graphics in 3D or telling us the shortest path between two points.  We have now become fairly dependent on computers to perform daily tasks for us. If we had to convert back to analog methods, or in other words if we were now forced to get along without computers, our future would be pretty dim. The rate at which technology is being developed would almost flat-line. Very few people would even be capable of simple tasks for a computer like calculating their taxes to send in to federal and state.

To me, the history of computer science began with number theory. How can combinations of things now stand for other things of use? Once digital logic was invented, it was the birthing ground for a real computer with which to study and further develop computer science. Around 1900-1939 were the years where the necessity for doing complex mathematical calculations drove the development of the early computer “calculation machines”. Then around the 1940’s, the first useful electronic digital computer was born to Howard Aiken with the assistance of IBM. In the 1950’s, “In hardware, Jack Kilby (Texas Instruments) and Robert Noyce (Fairchild Semiconductor) invented the integrated circuit in 1959.” It was not until the 1960’s though that computer science really came into its own as a discipline. In the 1970’s and 80’s, a public-key cryptosystem (RSA) was created and Apple computer brought on the personal computer, respectively. These days, computers are getting smaller and smaller, due to the birth of Nano-technology. Thanks to the “information superhighway”, the rate at which new findings or data is shared is simply astounding. The internet is also a large contributor to the pace at which computer science has developed in the last twenty years.

Source: https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/~shallit/Courses/134/history.html

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