The Invention of the Integrated Circuits

When engineers saw the limitations of vacuum tubes, they switched to transistors. But the problems do not stop there. Once they started assembling these to form a circuit, they realized that it does not work the way they imagined it to be. Each individual transistor works just fine but when constructed together, there lies the huge problem. Since they have to solder each component and keep them in place through metal wires, there will always be a faulty wiring which causes the circuit to malfunction. It is also no guarantee that the metal wires used will have the same length. Therefore, the electric signals won’t travel as fast as expected which will lead to the slow functioning of the circuits and eventually, the computer. It is only when the integrated circuits were invented that these problems were solved.

Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments was the pioneer in inventing this miniature electric circuit. He had a theory. He surmised that the problems can be solved when all the components are constructed from the same material and a board will act as their connecting wires. He, then, set on to test his theory. He used germanium to produce all the components including resistors, one transistor and a capacitor. All these are connected by a board of wires. When he tried it out, it worked! But Kilby had only one problem. The wires have to be individually attached to the board which is not ideal for mass production. Over at Fairchild Semiconductor, Robert Noyce was making another invention of integrated circuits. Instead of germanium, he used silicon to produce the components and a layer of metal with interconnecting wires embedded into it was added. This solved the problem that Kilby had. Now, the wires need not be individually attached. Gone were the days when the components have to be soldered together.

The integrated circuit proved to be a great invention in field of electronics. It paved the way towards the invention of computers, mobile phones and appliances. Both inventors were awarded great honors for their invention including the Nobel Prize in Physics for Kilby and National Medal of Science for Noyce, who went on to become the co-founder of Intel.

Roberts: The Father of Personal Computer

Despite the various inventions and discoveries that were done through the years, it was only in 1975 when the first personal computer was invented. But the first computer is not what we know today. It comes in a kit containing the individual parts (the processor, lights, memory, panel, power supply) and all these components have to be assembled using a soldering iron before the computer becomes fully functional.

This invention is attributed to Ed Roberts who is considered to be the Father of Personal Computer. It was around the time when Intel first released its 8080 microprocessor chip. At the same time, Roberts is looking for another business venture that would help lift his company from the financial losses it suffered. His company, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems, is currently dealing with losses due to the price war that his bestselling product, the calculators, was exposed to. He saw that the market is in need of computers that are of quality but cost less. With Intel’s 8080 chip, he saw their opportunity. He decided to sell a computer kit that has to be assembled by the customers. He went on to design the circuit and bought the 8080 chips at a wholesale price.

The new computer was named Altair, after one of the brightest stars in the universe. Ironically, this name was not coined by Roberts, its inventor. Les Solomon, one of the editors of Popular Electronics publication, gave the name. He wanted a more sophisticated term for it to generate its popularity among the people. And so the very first computer was named Altair 8800.

Upon its release, Altair 8800 became a huge hit. People saw its potential and orders kept coming in. It was widely received and Roberts has to hire more workers to accomplish all their deliveries. It marked a great breakthrough in the history of computers. Roberts went on to work on Altair BASIC, an improved version of Altair 8800 and later on, he collaborated with Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop its programming language.

The Evolution from Tubes to Transistors

Through the years, computer has evolved from one generation to another. Today, we are able to enjoy the sleek, slim and wireless computers. Nevertheless, decades ago, the computer is not what we know today. Maybe some of you have encountered them. They were really huge, heavy and slow, not to mention the fact that they consume a great deal of electricity. A major game changer in their evolution is the construction of its electronic switches – from the use of vacuum tubes to transistors.

Electronic switches are needed to control the flow of the binary digits (or bits for short). These switches are called such since they either allow or prevent the flow of this binary information thus; they function like a switch button. Either you switch it on or you switch it off. Initially, vacuum tubes were used as switches. Lee Da Forest invented the first tubes used in the computers, coining the name triode for it. They were a good invention although they posed a number of problems. It works this way. Inside the triode is a cathode, a grid and a plate. The cathode, when heated, emits electrons, which flows to the plate. The grid, located between these two parts, controls the flow of electrons. If you switch it on or if you make it positive then, the electrons flow to the plate. If you make it negative then, the plate repels the electrons. However, here lies the problem. Since it relies on heat to emit the electrons, they use too much electricity and as a result, the computer has a huge tendency of overheating.

When transistors entered the picture, they became a great breakthrough in the development of computers. They were able to solve the problems encountered in using vacuum tubes. They are smaller in size therefore, less electricity is needed for them to function. They, likewise, solved the problem of overheating computers. With transistors, computers became more efficient and function faster as compared to when tubes were being used. This advancement in electric switches is all thanks to the three inventors – John Bardeen. Walter Brattain and William Shockley.

The invention of transistors not only improved the function of computers but it also paved the way for other inventors to create computer models that are smaller in size, as we know today. Transistors are still currently being used but they are continuously improved to be faster, smaller and more efficient.

John Backus and The Development of FORTRAN

The computer as we know it today was not developed overnight. It took decades of hard work by various inventors, scientists and mathematicians to perfect the codes, programming language, software, hardware and microchips among others. One of the distinguished contributors is none other than John Backus who was recognized throughout the world for his development of FORTRAN, a high level programming language.

Backus graduated from Columbia University with an MS in Mathematics. Although he failed to become a successful doctor and chemical engineer, he found his passion in mathematics. At that time, IBM was holding an exhibit displaying its latest computer models when Backus chanced upon them. He was intrigued with the exhibits that he went on to discuss his ideas with the IBM management present in the venue. After much discussion and exchange of ideas, he was hired by IBM right after the exhibit. That was in 1950. Since then, Backus began writing programs for various projects. He went on to develop Speedcoding, a high-level language that was used in IBM to interpret the codes and provide pseudo-instructions for the many mathematical operations of their computers. That was a breakthrough in the history of computers but it was the development of FORTRAN that really earned him a place and recognition by his peers in the field.

It was in 1957 when he and his team finally finished developing FORTRAN, short for Formula Translator, after around three years of hard work. It was around the time when programs have to be entered through machine codes for the computer to process the information. Many complaints were raised with regards to the task being too time-consuming. Therefore, when FORTRAN entered the picture, it was widely received and the developers were highly applauded. Now, they need not enter each program into a machine code. With the new programming language, everything will be properly translated into the right set of zeroes and ones based on a series of algorithms entered.

For this, Backus garnered numerous awards. Some of these were the ACM Turing Award in 1977, W.W. McDowell Award in 1967 given to him by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the National Medal of Science in 1975. Such is the significance of his contribution to the development of computers. Even until today, many prefer FORTRAN and improved versions are continuously being released to adapt to the ever-changing needs of the world of computers and programming.