Second Generation

(1954-1962)


The second generation saw several important developments at all levels of computer system design, from the technology used to build the basic circuits to the programming languages used to write scientific applications.

By 1948, the invention of the transistor greatly changed the computer's development. The transistor replaced the large, cumbersome vacuum tube in televisions, radios and computers. As a result, the size of electronic machinery has been shrinking ever since. The transistor was at work in the computer by 1956. Coupled with early advances in magnetic-core memory, transistors led to second generation computers that were smaller, faster, more reliable and more energy-efficient than their predecessors. The first large-scale machines to take advantage of this transistor technology were early supercomputers, Stretch by IBM and LARC by Sperry-Rand. These computers, both developed for atomic energy laboratories, could handle an enormous amount of data, a capability much in demand by atomic scientists. The machines were costly, however, and tended to be too powerful for the business sector's computing needs, thereby limiting their attractiveness. Only two LARCs were ever installed: one in the Lawrence Radiation Labs in Livermore, California, for which the computer was named (Livermore Atomic Research Computer) and the other at the U.S. Navy Research and Development Center in Washington, D.C. Second generation computers replaced machine language with assembly language, allowing abbreviated programming codes to replace long, difficult binary codes.

Electronic switches in this era were based on discrete diode and transistor technology with a switching time of approximately 0.3 microseconds. The first machines to be built with this technology include TRADIC at Bell Laboratories in 1954 and TX-0 at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory. Memory technology was based on magnetic cores which could be accessed in random order, as opposed to mercury delay lines, in which data was stored as an acoustic wave that passed sequentially through the medium and could be accessed only when the data moved by the I/O interface.

PDP-1, the first commercial computer with a monitor and keyboard input.

Important innovations in computer architecture included index registers for controlling loops and floating point units for calculations based on real numbers. Prior to this accessing successive elements in an array was quite tedious and often involved writing self-modifying code (programs which modified themselves as they ran; at the time viewed as a powerful application of the principle that programs and data were fundamentally the same, this practice is now frowned upon as extremely hard to debug and is impossible in most high level languages). Floating point operations were performed by libraries of software routines in early computers, but were done in hardware in second generation machines.

During this second generation many high level programming languages were introduced, including FORTRAN (1956), ALGOL (1958), and COBOL (1959). Important commercial machines of this era include the IBM 704 and its successors, the 709 and 7094. The latter introduced I/O processors for better throughput between I/O devices and main memory.

The second generation also saw the first two supercomputers designed specifically for numeric processing in scientific applications. The term ``supercomputer'' is generally reserved for a machine that is an order of magnitude more powerful than other machines of its era. Two machines of the 1950s deserve this title. The Livermore Atomic Research Computer (LARC) and the IBM 7030 (aka Stretch) were early examples of machines that overlapped memory operations with processor operations and had primitive forms of parallel processing.

Year wise summery of development

1954: Earl Masterson's Uniprinter, or line printer, developed for computers, executes 600 lines per minute. Texas Instruments introduces the silicon transistor, pointing the way to lower manufacturing costs. The Univac 1103A becomes the first commercial machine with a ferrite-core memory.

FORTRAN is created by John Backus at IBM. Harlan Herrick runs the first successful FORTRAN program. Gene Amdahl develops the first operating system, used on IBM 704.

1955: First SHARE users group meeting is held. Remington-Rand merges with Sperry Gyroscope to form Sperry-Rand. APT (Automatic Programmed Tool) is developed by D.T. Ross.

1956: Burroughs acquires Electrodata and the Datatron computer, which becomes the Burroughs 205. overnment antitrust suit against IBM is settled; consent decree requires IBM to sell as well as lease machines. A. Newell, D. Shaw and F. Simon invent IPL (Information Processing Language.). RCA ships the Bizmac. T.J. Watson, Jr. assumes presidency of IBM. The acronym artificial intelligence is coined by John McCarthy.

John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky chair a meeting ar Dartmouth College at which the concept of artificial intelligence is developed. Fuji Photo Film Co. in Japan develops a 1,700-vacuum-tube computer for lens design calculations. A Univac with transistors and designed for commercial use is introduced.

1957: Control Data Corporation is formed by William C. Norris and a group of engineers from Sperry-Rand. Digital Equipment Corporation is founded by Ken Olsen. First issue of Datamation is released. Honeywell joins with Raytheon to ship the Datamatic 1000.

John Backus and colleagus at IBM deliver the first Fortran (formula translator) compiler to Westinghouse. The Atlas Guidance Computer from Burroughs, one of the first computers using transistors, helps control the launch of the Atlas missile.
Gordon Moore, Robert Noyce, and others found Fairchild Semiconductor. Japan's Electrotechnical Laboratory develops a transistor computer, the ETL Mark III, that uses 130 transistors and 1,700 diodes. John McCarthy forms MIT's Artificial Intelligence Department. Control Data is incorporated om July 8. Russia launches Sputnik I into orbit on October 4, and the "space race" begins. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. develops the Musasino-1, the first parametron computer. It uses 519 vacuum tubes and 5,400 parametrons--logic elements based on the principle of parametric excitation and invented by Eiji Goto in 1954.

1958: ALGOL, first called IAL (International Algebraic Language), is presented in Zurich. First virtual memory machine, Atlas, is installed in England by Feranti. It was developed at the University of Manchester by R.M. Kilburn. First electronic computers are built in Japan by NEC: the NEC-1101 and -1102. Frank Rosenblatt builds the Perceptron Mark I using a CRT as an output device. LISP is developed on the IBM 704 at MIT under John McCarthy. Seymour Cray builds the first fully transistorized supercomputer for Control Data Corp., the CDC 1604. Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments makes the first integrated circuit.

Digital Equipment Corp. is founded. At Texas Instruments, Jack Kilby develops a prototype semiconductor IC while Robert Noyce works separately on ICs at Fairchild Semiconductor. The Whirlwind project is extended to produce an air traffic control system. Bell's development of the modem data phone enables telephone lines to transmit binary data.

1959: COBOL is defined by the Conference on Data System Languages (Codasyl), based on Grace Hoppers Flow-Matic. First packaged program is sold by Computer Science Corporation. IBM introduces the 1401. Over 10,000 units will be delivered during its lifetime. IBM ships its first transistorized, or second generation, computers, the 1620 and 1790. Jack S. Kilby at Texas Instruments files a patent for the first integrated circuit. Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor develops the monolithic idea for integrated circuits.

The Committee on Data Systems Languages (Codasyl) is formed to create Cobol (Common Business Oriented Language).John McCarthy develops Lisp (list processing) for artificial intelligence applications. In June, Japan's first transistor computer, NEC Corp.'s NEAC 2201, is demonstrated at an exhibition in Paris. Xerox introduces the first commercial copy machine. Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments designs a flip-flop IC. On July 30, Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore file a patent application for integrated circuit technology on behalf of the Fairchild Semiconductor Corp. UNESCO sponsors the first major international computer conference. General Electric produces the GE ERMA to process checks in a banking application via magnetic ink character recognition.

1960: Benjamin Curley develops the first minicomputer, the PDP-1, at Digital Equipment Corporation. COBOL runs on UNIVAC II and RCA 501. Control Data Corporation delivers its first product, a large scientific computer named the CDC 1604. DEC ships the first small computer, the PDP-1. First electronic switching central office becomes operational in Chicago. Removable disks first appear.

1961: Georg C. Devol patents a robotic device, which Unimation soon markets as the first industrial robot. It is first used to automate the manufacture of TV picture tubes. Fernando Corbató at MIT develops a way for multiple users to share computer time. IBM's 7030, or Stretch, computer is completed and runs about 30 times faster than the 704, leading to further exploration of supercomputing.

AFIPS (American Federation of Information Processing Societies) forms. Multiprogramming runs on Stretch computer. Time-sharing runs at MIT on IBM 709 and 7090 computers by F. Corbato. IBM delivers the Stretch computer to Los Alamos. This transistorized computer with 64-bit data paths is the first to use eight-bit bytes; it remains operational until l971. APL (A Programming Language) is developed by Ken Iverson, Harvard University and IBM. First general-purpose simulation languages are proposed: (1) SIMSCRIPT by the Rand Corporation, and (2) GPSS by IBM. IBM markets 1311 using removable disks. IBM's U.S.-based annual revenues from computer products reaches $1 billion and for the first time surpasses its other revenue.

1962: Max V. Mathews leads a Bell Labs team in developing software that can design, store, and edit synthesized music.
Standford and Purdue Universities establish the first departments of computer science. H. Ross Perot founds Electronic Data Systems, which will become the world's largest computer service bureau. The first video game is invented by MIT graduate student Steve Russell. It is soon played in computer labs all over the US.The Telstar communications satellite is launched on July 10 and relays the first transatlantic television pictures. Atlas, considered the world's most powerful computer, is inaugurated in England on December 7. It advances include virtual memory and pipelined operations.

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