2020-10-11
346
I. Read and translate the text.
The concept of devices that operate following a pre-defined set of instructions traces back to Greek Mythology, notably Hephaestus and his mechanical servants. The Antikythera mechanism was a calculator utilizing gears of various sizes and configuration to determine its operation. The earliest known programmable machines (machines whose behavior can be controlled and predicted with a set of instructions) were Al-Jazari’s programmable Automata in 1206. One of Al-Jazari’s robots was originally a boat with four automatic musicians that floated on a lake to entertain guests at royal drinking parties. Programming this mechanism’s behavior meant placing pegs and cams into a wooden drum at specific locations. These would then bump into little levers that operate a percussion instrument. The output of this device was a small drummer playing various rhythms and drum patterns. Another sophisticated programmable machine by Al-Jazari was the castle clock, notable for its concept of variables which the operator could manipulate as necessary (i.e. the length of day and night).
The Jacquard Loom, which Joseph Marie Jacquard developed in 1801, uses a series of pasteboard cards with holes punched in them. The hole pattern represented the pattern that the loom had to follow in weaving cloth. The loom could produce entirely different weaves using different sets of cards. Charles Babbage adopted the use of punched cards around 1830 to control his Analytical Engine. The synthesis of numerical calculation, predetermined operation and output, along with a way to organize and input instructions in a manner relatively easy for humans to conceive and produce, led to the modern development of computer programming.
Development of computer programming accelerated through the Industrial Revolution. The punch card innovation was later refined by Herman Hollerith who, in 1896 founded the Tabulating Machine Company (which became IBM). He invented the Hollerith punched card, the card reader, and the key punch machine. These inventions were the foundation of the modern information processing industry. The addition of a plug-board to his 1906 Type I Tabulator allowed it to do different jobs without having to be physically rebuilt. By the late 1940s there were a variety of plug-board programmable machines, called unit record equipment, to perform data processing tasks (card reading). Early computer programmers used plug-boards for the variety of complex calculations requested of the newly invented machines.
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Notes
Hephaestus — бог огня; Гефест; Antikythera — Антиките́рский механизм — механическое устройство, обнаруженное в 1900 году на затонувшем древнем судне недалеко от греческого острова Антикитера. Al-Jazari — Аль-Джазари (1136—1202) — исламский инженер, изобретатель, он изобрел коленчатый вал, по его чертежам строились двухтактные клапанные насосы, дамбы и водоподъемные машины. Аль-Джазари сконструировал водяные часы, отбивавшие время каждые полчаса, фонтаны, музыкальные автоматы и т.д. Joseph Marie Jacquard – Жозеф Мари Жаккар — французский изобретатель ткацкого станка для узорчатых материй (машина Жаккарда); Herman Hollerith — Герман Холлерит — создатель электрической табулирующей системы, основатель компании Tabulating Machine Company; Charles Babbage – Чарльз Бэббидж — английский изобретатель, разработал проект первого автоматического вычислителя.
II. Give a list of the main stages in the history of programming.
III. Render the text in English and in Russian. Provide additional information if possible.
