Advent of Computing

By: Sean Haas
  • Summary

  • Welcome to Advent of Computing, the show that talks about the shocking, intriguing, and all too often relevant history of computing. A lot of little things we take for granted today have rich stories behind their creation, in each episode we will learn how older tech has lead to our modern world.
    Sean Haas 2019
    Show more Show less
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2
Episodes
  • Episode 148 - Is BLISS Ignorance?
    Dec 22 2024

    In 1970 a little language called BLISS emerged from Carnegie Mellon University. It was a systems language, meant for operating systems and compilers. It was designed, in part, as a response to Dijkstra's famous Go To Considered Harmful paper. It had no data types. It used the most bizzare form of the pointer I've ever seen. And it was a direct competitor to C. Sound interesting, yet?

    Selected Sources:

    https://bitsavers.computerhistory.org/pdf/dec/decus/pdp10/DECUS-10-118-PartII_BlissReadings_Dec71.pdf - Readings on BLISS

    https://www.cs.tufts.edu/~nr/cs257/archive/ronald-brender/bliss.pdf - A History of BLISS

    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Episode 147 - Molecular Electronic Computer
    Dec 9 2024

    In 1961 Texas Instruments unveiled the Molecular Electronic Computer, aka: Mol-E-Com. It was a machine that fit in the palm of your hand, but had all the power of a much larger computer. This was in an age of hefty machines, which made the achievement all the more marvelous. How was this even possible? It was all thanks to the wonders of molecular electronics, and a boat load of funding from the US Air Force.

    Selected Sources:

    https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071831/http://corphist.computerhistory.org/corphist/documents/doc-496d289787271.pdf - Invention of the Integrated Circuit, Kilby

    https://archive.org/details/DTIC_AD0411614/page/n15/mode/2up - Investigation of Silicon Functional Blocks, TI

    https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/AD0273850.pdf - Silicon Semiconductor Networks, TI

    Show more Show less
    55 mins
  • Episode 146 - The Z4
    Nov 25 2024

    The Z4, completed by Konrad Zuse in 1945, is a computer with a wild story. It was made from scrounged parts, survived years of bombing raids, moved all around Berlin, and eventually took refuge in basements and stables. In this episode we will follow the Z4's early days, and look at how it fits into the larger picture of Zuse's work. Along the way there is looting, rumors, and even... IBM!

    Selected Sources:

    The Computer, My Life - Konrad Zuse's autobiography

    https://web.archive.org/web/20090220012346/http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/370000/361515/p678-bauer.pdf?key1=361515&key2=3342588511&coll=&dl=acm&CFID=15151515&CFTOKEN=6184618 - Plankalkul, F.L. Bauer and H. Wossner

    https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9787324 - Architecture of the Z4, Rojas

    Show more Show less
    58 mins

What listeners say about Advent of Computing

Average customer ratings

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.