Name: ______

Study Guide - The History of Computing

Objective: Students will understand the development of the personal computer.

Instructions: Go to my website at

In the navigation pane on the left, click the double arrow (>) next to Introduction to Computers to open the list of topics and click on Computer History. This is the worksheet so there is no need to open that link. Watch the video first. Then open the PowerPoint and answer the following questions.

  1. What is the definition of a computer?
  1. What were John Napier’s rods able to do?
  1. Who is credited with inventing the first operational calculating machine in 1642?
  1. Why was the first operational calculating machine invented?
  1. What did Joseph Marie Jacquard invent? Where was he to use it?
  1. Who is known as the “Father of Computing” and why were his machines unsuccessful?
  1. Who was the world’s first programmer?
  1. Who invented a faster way to compile the U. S. Census? What company emerged from this inventor?
  1. Why was the Mark I not considered a computer?
  1. What were the characteristics of those computers in the first generation (1943-1959)?
  1. Who developed the first electronic computer ENIAC (known as first real computer)? What were ENIAC’s two major weaknesses?
  1. Who first used the term “bug” and where did this term originate?
  1. Who developed the central processing unit (CPU)?
  1. The four specific activities of computers processing data are as follows:
  1. What was the first commercial computer? Who was it sold to and for what purpose?
  1. When was PONG, the first computer game developed? When was it finally sold to the public?
  1. What part replaced the vacuum tube and resulted in smaller, faster, more reliable machines in the second generation of computers (1959-1964)?
  1. What part replaced the transistor in the third generation (1964-1972)?
  1. What were the results of this new technology?
  1. What was the first commercially successful mini-computer and how much did it cost?
  1. Who unveiled the computer mouse in 1968? How many years elapsed before it became popular?
  1. When did “networking” evolve?
  1. The fourth generation (1972-present) was characterized by what machine?
  1. What was the first home computer?
  1. Who founded Microsoft? When didMicrosoft begin the retail shipment of Windows?

History of ComputersR. McAndrews, Humble ISD - 2013