The first Computer

 STEAM= Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics

The first Computer

    The first modern electronic digital computer was called the Atanasoff-Berry computer or ABC. It was built by physics Professor John Vincent Atanasoff and his graduate student, Clifford Berry, in 1942 at Iowa College, now known as Iowa State University.

    The ABC was the basis for the modern computer we all use today and weighed over 700 pounds. It had a rotating drum, a little bigger than a paint can that had small capacitors on it. A capacitor is a device that can store an electric charge, like a battery. The ABC was designed to solve problems with up to 29 different variables.

    Before ABC, there were mechanical computing devices that could perform simple calculations. The first mechanical computer, The Babbage Difference Engine, was designed by Charles Babbage in 1822. Charles Babbage, who was an English mechanical engineer, originated the concept of a programmable computer.

    Ada Lovelace was an English Mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She was the first to recognize that the machine had applications beyond pure calculation and to have published the first algorithm intended to be carried out by such a machine. As a result, she is often regarded as the first computer programmer.