Computer Based & Digital Technologies: How Technology Has Adapted Over Time

There is no doubt that technology has changed over time. This can be seen just be looking at any piece of technology in the world today. The earliest signs of computing date all the way back to the 1600’s. John Napier created a new mathematical method in 1614. He called this new method a logarithm. Napier credits the discovery of the slide rule to Edmund Gunther. This allowed for simple multiplication and division. This change in technology allowed for quicker calculations, programable computers did not make an appearance until around 1822. Charles Babbage created a small device that when hand cranked could compute mathematical equations. Babbage is considered one of the pioneers of computers. It was not until 1972 when Ray Tomlinson created the first email. Back then all it was capable of doing was sending and receiving emails with no ability to directly respond. This was all so new and great, but it wasn’t until 1973 when Ethernet was created that development of technology grew exponentially. The first version of Microsoft Windows became available to the public in 1985 which changed the world forever. One of the most influential people for technology was Sir Tim Berners-Lee. in 1989 he created the World Wide Web. This led the world in technology until the creation of Google in 1998. This all leads to YouTube created in 2005 followed by Twitter in 2006. There is no telling where technology might take us in the future. At the rate it is adapting there is no doubt that change is coming, and coming fast.

Ada Lovelace is revered as one of the pioneers of computing. This is a great accomplishment, especially being in 1822. Women’s rights acts were not given until many years down the road. To be credited with writing one of the first computer programs is truly an honor. She later published a manifesto in 1843. Her algorithm found a way to complete a computation of Bernoulli numbers by using Charles Babbage’s analytical engine. These two worked together to accomplish something that no one else had ever done. This changed the course of modern technology forever. Lovelace truly was a leader in technology and even inspired the greats who followed her. One key person was Alan Turing. Turing was a genius computer scientist who was inspired by Lovelace’s work. This lead to the Universal Turing Machine, which led to the first computer. Turing also created an artificial intelligence test that is still commonly used today. All of this is possible because of the foundation that both Lovelace and Babbage created in the technology sector. Without her work there is no telling where the world would be.

There were countless people of color who helped pave the way to what modern technology has blossomed into. One person who doesn’t get enough credit is Dr. Philip Emeagwali. He was born in Nigeria in the 1950’s. Emeagwali developed the program for the fastest computer on earth. It can run 3.1 billion calculations per second. Emeagwali stated that he got his inspiration by, “watching bees working together in nature, and realized that he could build computer systems that can work and internally communicate like a beehive.” This is truly incredible that his inspiration came just from watching bees work. The part that is fascinating about this is that Google still uses this process with their search engines. Anytime you Google something Emeagwali’s program is used to find the search results. Every time I google something I will now think of Dr. Philip Emeagwali’s program.