Our last episode brought us to the start of the 20th century, | |
上集讲到 20 世纪初 | |
where early, special purpose computing devices, like tabulating machines, | |
当时的早期计算设备都针对特定用途 比如 制表机 | |
were a huge boon to governments and business | |
大大推进了政府和企业 | |
- aiding, and sometimes replacing, rote manual tasks. | |
它们帮助, 甚至代替了人工 | |
But the scale of human systems continued to increase at an unprecedented rate. | |
然而人类社会的规模 在以前所未有的速度增长 | |
The first half of the 20th century saw the world's population almost double. | |
20世纪上半叶,世界人口几乎翻倍 | |
World War 1 mobilized 70 million people, and World War 2 involved more than 100 million. | |
一战动员7千万人,二战1亿多人 | |
Global trade and transit networks became interconnected like never before, | |
全球贸易和运输更加紧密 | |
and the sophistication of our engineering and scientific endeavors reached new heights | |
工程和科学的复杂度也达到新高 | |
- we even started to seriously consider visiting other planets. | |
- 我们甚至开始考虑造访其他行星 | |
And it was this explosion of complexity, bureaucracy, and ultimately data, | |
复杂度的增高导致数据量暴增 | |
that drove an increasing need for automation and computation. | |
人们需要更多自动化 更强的计算能力 | |
Soon those cabinet-sized electro-mechanical computers grew into room-sized behemoths | |
很快,柜子大小的计算机变成房间大小 | |
that were expensive to maintain and prone to errors. | |
维护费用高 而且容易出错 | |
And it was these machines that would set the stage for future innovation. | |
而正是这些机器 为未来的创新打下基础 | |
One of the largest electro-mechanical computers built was the Harvard Mark I, | |
最大的机电计算机之一是 哈佛马克一号 | |
completed in 1944 by IBM for the Allies during World War 2. | |
IBM 在 1944 完成建造,给二战同盟国建造的. | |
It contained 765,000 components, three million connections, and five hundred miles of wire. | |
它有76万5千个组件,300万个连接点和500英里长的导线 | |
To keep its internal mechanics synchronized, | |
为了保持内部机械装置同步 | |
it used a 50-foot shaft running right through the machine driven by a five horsepower motor. | |
它有一个50英尺的传动轴,由一个 5 马力的电机驱动 | |
One of the earliest uses for this technology was running simulations for the Manhattan Project. | |
这台机器最早的用途之一 是给"曼哈顿计划"跑模拟 | |
The brains of these huge electro-mechanical beasts were relays: | |
这台机器的大脑是"继电器" | |
electrically-controlled mechanical switches. | |
继电器是:用电控制的机械开关 | |
In a relay, there is a control wire that determines whether a circuit is opened or closed. | |
继电器里,有根"控制线路",控制电路是开还是关 | |
The control wire connects to a coil of wire inside the relay. | |
"控制线路" 连着一个线圈 | |
When current flows through the coil, an electromagnetic field is created, | |
当电流流过线圈,线圈产生电磁场 | |
which in turn, attracts a metal arm inside the relay, snapping it shut and completing the circuit. | |
吸引金属臂,从而闭合电路 | |
You can think of a relay like a water faucet. | |
你可以把继电器 想成水龙头 | |
The control wire is like the faucet handle. | |
把控制线路 想成水龙头把 | |
Open the faucet, and water flows through the pipe. | |
打开水龙头,水会流出来 | |
Close the faucet, and the flow of water stops. | |
关闭水龙头,水就没有了 | |
Relays are doing the same thing, just with electrons instead of water. | |
继电器是一样的,只不过控制的是电子 而不是水 | |
The controlled circuit can then connect to other circuits, or to something like a motor, | |
这个控制电路可以连到其他电路,比如马达 | |
which might increment a count on a gear, | |
马达让计数齿轮 +1 | |
like in Hollerith's tabulating machine we talked about last episode. | |
就像上集中 Hollerith 的制表机一样 | |
Unfortunately, the mechanical arm inside of a relay *has mass*, | |
不幸的是,继电器内的机械臂 *有质量* | |
and therefore can't move instantly between opened and closed states. | |
因此无法快速开关 | |
A good relay in the 1940's might be able to flick back and forth fifty times in a second. | |
1940 年代一个好的继电器 1 秒能翻转 50 次 | |
That might seem pretty fast, but it's not fast enough to be useful at solving large, complex problems. | |
看起来好像很快,但还不够快,不足以解决复杂的大问题 | |
The Harvard Mark I could do 3 additions or subtractions per second; | |
哈佛马克一号,1 秒能做 3 次加法或减法运算 | |
multiplications took 6 seconds, and divisions took 15. | |
一次乘法要花 6 秒,除法要花 15 秒 | |
And more complex operations, like a trigonometric function, could take over a minute. | |
更复杂的操作 比如三角函数,可能要一分钟以上 | |
In addition to slow switching speed, another limitation was wear and tear. | |
除了速度慢,另一个限制是齿轮磨损 | |
Anything mechanical that moves will wear over time. | |
任何会动的机械都会随时间磨损 | |
Some things break entirely, and other things start getting sticky, slow, and just plain unreliable. | |
有些部件会完全损坏,有些则是变黏,变慢,变得不可靠 | |
And as the number of relays increases, the probability of a failure increases too. | |
并且随着继电器数量增加,故障概率也会增加 | |
The Harvard Mark I had roughly 3500 relays. | |
哈佛马克一号 有大约 3500 个继电器 | |
Even if you assume a relay has an operational life of 10 years, | |
哪怕假设继电器的使用寿命是 10 年 | |
this would mean you'd have to replace, on average, one faulty relay every day! | |
也意味着平均每天得换一个故障继电器! | |
That's a big problem when you are in the middle of running some important, multi-day calculation. | |
这个问题很严重,因为有些重要运算要运行好几天 | |
And that's not all engineers had to contend with. | |
而且还有更多其他问题要考虑 | |
These huge, dark, and warm machines also attracted insects. | |
这些巨大,黑色,温暖的机器也会吸引昆虫 | |
In September 1947, operators on the Harvard Mark II pulled a dead moth from a malfunctioning relay. | |
1947年9月,哈佛马克2型的操作员从故障继电器中,拔出一只死虫 | |
Grace Hopper who we'll talk more about in a later episode noted, | |
Grace Hopper(这位我们以后还会提到)曾说 | |
"From then on, when anything went wrong with a computer, | |
"从那时起,每当电脑出了问题, | |
we said it had bugs in it." | |
我们就说它出了 bug(虫子)" | |
And that's where we get the term computer bug. | |
这就是术语 "bug" 的来源 | |
It was clear that a faster, more reliable alternative to electro-mechanical relays was needed | |
显然,如果想进一步提高计算能力 | |
if computing was going to advance further, | |
我们需要更快更可靠的东西,来替代继电器 | |
and fortunately that alternative already existed! | |
幸运的是,替代品已经存在了! | |
In 1904, English physicist John Ambrose Fleming | |
在 1904 年,英国物理学家 "约翰·安布罗斯·弗莱明" | |
developed a new electrical component called a thermionic valve, | |
开发了一种新的电子组件,叫"热电子管" | |
which housed two electrodes inside an airtight glass bulb | |
把两个电极装在一个气密的玻璃灯泡里 | |
- this was the first vacuum tube. | |
-这是世上第一个真空管 | |
One of the electrodes could be heated, which would cause it to emit electrons | |
其中一个电极可以加热,从而发射电子 | |
– a process called thermionic emission. | |
-这叫 "热电子发射" | |
The other electrode could then attract these electrons to create the flow of our electric faucet, | |
另一个电极会吸引电子,形成"电龙头"的电流 | |
but only if it was positively charged | |
但只有带正电才行 | |
- if it had a negative or neutral charge, the electrons would no longer be attracted across the vacuum | |
- 如果带负电荷或中性电荷,电子就没办法被吸引,越过真空区域 | |
so no current would flow. | |
因此没有电流 | |
An electronic component that permits the one-way flow of current is called a diode, | |
电流只能单向流动的电子部件叫 "二极管" | |
but what was really needed was a switch to help turn this flow on and off. | |
但我们需要的是,一个能开关电流的东西 | |
Luckily, shortly after, in 1906, American inventor Lee de Forest | |
幸运的是,不久之后在 1906 年,美国发明家 "李·德富雷斯特" | |
added a third "control" electrode that sits between the two electrodes in Fleming's design. | |
他在"弗莱明"设计的两个电极之间,加入了第三个 "控制" 电极 | |
By applying a positive charge to the control electrode, it would permit the flow of electrons as before. | |
向"控制"电极施加正电荷,它会允许电子流动 | |
But if the control electrode was given a negative charge, | |
但如果施加负电荷 | |
it would prevent the flow of electrons. | |
它会阻止电子流动 | |
So by manipulating the control wire, one could open or close the circuit. | |
因此通过控制线路,可以断开或闭合电路 | |
It's pretty much the same thing as a relay | |
和继电器的功能一样 | |
- but importantly, vacuum tubes have no moving parts. | |
- 但重要的是,真空管内没有会动的组件 | |
This meant there was less wear, | |
这意味着更少的磨损 | |
and more importantly, they could switch thousands of times per second. | |
更重要的是,每秒可以开闭数千次 | |
These triode vacuum tubes would become the basis of radio, long distance telephone, | |
因此这些"三极真空管"成为了无线电,长途电话 | |
and many other electronic devices for nearly a half century. | |
以及其他电子设备的基础,持续了接近半个世纪 | |
I should note here that vacuum tubes weren't perfect | |
我应该提到,真空管不是完美的 | |
- they're kind of fragile, and can burn out like light bulbs, | |
-它们有点脆弱,并且像灯泡一样会烧坏 | |
they were a big improvement over mechanical relays. | |
但比起机械继电器是一次巨大进步 | |
Also, initially vacuum tubes were expensive | |
起初,真空管非常昂贵 | |
– a radio set often used just one, | |
收音机一般只用一个 | |
but a computer might require hundreds or thousands of electrical switches. | |
但计算机可能要上百甚至上千个电气开关 | |
But by the 1940s, | |
但到了 1940 年代 | |
their cost and reliability had improved to the point where they became feasible for use in computers…. | |
它的成本和可靠性得到改进,可以用在计算机里 | |
at least by people with deep pockets, like governments. | |
至少有钱人负担得起,比如政府 | |
This marked the shift from electro-mechanical computing to electronic computing. | |
这标志着计算机 从机电转向电子 | |
Let's go to the Thought Bubble. | |
我们来进入思想泡泡 | |
The first large-scale use of vacuum tubes for computing was the Colossus MK 1, | |
第一个大规模使用真空管的计算机是 "巨人1号" | |
designed by engineer Tommy Flowers and completed in December of 1943. | |
由工程师 Tommy Flowers 设计,完工于1943年12月 | |
The Colossus was installed at Bletchley Park, in the UK, | |
巨人1号 在英国的"布莱切利园", 用于破解纳粹通信 | |
and helped to decrypt Nazi communications. | |
巨人1号 在英国的"布莱切利园", 用于破解纳粹通信 | |
This may sound familiar because two years prior Alan Turing, | |
听起来可能有点熟,因为 2 年前 阿兰·图灵 | |
often called the father of computer science, | |
他经常被称为"计算机科学之父" | |
had created an electromechanical device, also at Bletchley Park, called the Bombe. | |
图灵也在"布莱切利园"做了台机电装置,叫 "Bombe" | |
It was an electromechanical machine designed to break Nazi Enigma codes, | |
这台机器的设计目的是 破解纳粹"英格码"通讯加密设备 | |
but the Bombe wasn't technically a computer, | |
但 Bombe 严格来说不算计算机 | |
and we'll get to Alan Turing's contributions later. | |
我们之后会讨论"阿兰·图灵"的贡献 | |
Anyway, the first version of Colossus contained 1,600 vacuum tubes, | |
总之,巨人1号有 1600 个真空管 | |
and in total, ten Colossi were built to help with code-breaking. | |
总共造了 10 台巨人计算机,来帮助破解密码 | |
Colossus is regarded as the first programmable, electronic computer. | |
巨人 被认为是第一个可编程的电子计算机 | |
Programming was done by plugging hundreds of wires into plugboards, | |
编程的方法是把几百根电线插入插板 | |
sort of like old school telephone switchboards, | |
有点像老电话交换机 | |
in order to set up the computer to perform the right operations. | |
这是为了让计算机执行正确操作 | |
So while "programmable", it still had to be configured to perform a specific computation. | |
虽然"可编程" ,但还是要配置它 | |
Enter the The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator - or ENIAC - | |
电子数值积分计算机 "ENIAC" | |
completed a few years later in 1946 at the University of Pennsylvania. | |
几年后在 1946 年,在"宾夕法尼亚大学"完成建造 | |
Designed by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, | |
设计者是 John Mauchly 和 J. Presper Eckert | |
this was the world's first truly general purpose, programmable, electronic computer. | |
这是世上第一个真正的通用,可编程,电子计算机 | |
ENIAC could perform 5000 ten-digit additions or subtractions per second, | |
ENIAC 每秒可执行 5000 次十位数加减法 | |
many, many times faster than any machine that came before it. | |
比前辈快了很多倍 | |
It was operational for ten years, | |
它运作了十年 | |
and is estimated to have done more arithmetic than the entire human race up to that point. | |
据估计,它完成的运算,比全人类加起来还多 | |
But with that many vacuum tubes failures were common, | |
因为真空管很多,所以故障很常见 | |
and ENIAC was generally only operational for about half a day at a time before breaking down. | |
ENIAC 运行半天左右就会出一次故障 | |
Thanks Thought Bubble. | |
谢了 思想泡泡 | |
By the 1950's, even vacuum-tube-based computing was reaching its limits. | |
到 1950 年代,真空管计算机都达到了极限 | |
The US Air Force's AN/FSQ-7 computer, which was completed in 1955, | |
美国空军的 AN/FSQ-7 计算机于 1955 年完成 | |
was part of the "SAGE" air defense computer system, | |
是 "SAGE" 防空计算机系统的一部分 | |
which we'll talk more about in a later episode. | |
之后的视频还会提到. | |
To reduce cost and size, as well as improve reliability and speed, | |
为了降低成本和大小,同时提高可靠性和速度 | |
a radical new electronic switch would be needed. | |
我们需要一种新的电子开关 | |
In 1947, Bell Laboratory scientists John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley | |
1947 年,贝尔实验室科学家 \N John Bardeen,Walter Brattain,William Shockley | |
invented the transistor, | |
发明了晶体管 | |
and with it, a whole new era of computing was born! | |
一个全新的计算机时代诞生了! | |
The physics behind transistors is pretty complex, relying on quantum mechanics, | |
晶体管的物理学相当复杂,牵扯到量子力学 | |
so we're going to stick to the basics. | |
所以我们只讲基础 | |
A transistor is just like a relay or vacuum tube | |
晶体管 就像之前提过的"继电器"或"真空管" | |
- it's a switch that can be opened or closed by applying electrical power via a control wire. | |
-它是一个开关,可以用控制线路来控制开或关 | |
Typically, transistors have two electrodes separated by a material that sometimes can conduct electricity, | |
晶体管有两个电极,\N 电极之间有一种材料隔开它们,这种材料有时候导电 | |
and other times resist it | |
有时候不导电 | |
- a semiconductor. | |
- 这叫"半导体" | |
In this case, the control wire attaches to a "gate" electrode. | |
控制线连到一个 "门" 电极 | |
By changing the electrical charge of the gate, | |
通过改变 "门" 的电荷 | |
the conductivity of the semiconducting material can be manipulated, | |
我们可以控制半导体材料的导电性 | |
allowing current to flow or be stopped | |
来允许或不允许 电流流动 | |
- like the water faucet analogy we discussed earlier. | |
- 就像之前的水龙头比喻 | |
Even the very first transistor at Bell Labs showed tremendous promise | |
贝尔实验室的第一个晶体管就展示了巨大的潜力 | |
- it could switch between on and off states 10,000 times per second. | |
每秒可以开关 10,000 次 | |
Further, unlike vacuum tubes made of glass and with carefully suspended, fragile components, | |
而且,比起玻璃制成,小心易碎的真空管 | |
transistors were solid material known as a solid state component. | |
晶体管是固态的 | |
Almost immediately, transistors could be made smaller than the smallest possible relays or vacuum tubes. | |
晶体管可以远远小于继电器或真空管 | |
This led to dramatically smaller and cheaper computers, like the IBM 608, released in 1957 | |
导致更小更便宜的计算机,比如1957年发布的IBM 608 | |
– the first fully transistor-powered, commercially-available computer. | |
- 第一个完全用晶体管,而且消费者也可以买到的计算机 | |
It contained 3000 transistors and could perform 4,500 additions, | |
它有 3000 个晶体管,每秒执行 4500 次加法 | |
or roughly 80 multiplications or divisions, every second. | |
每秒能执行 80 次左右的乘除法 | |
IBM soon transitioned all of its computing products to transistors, | |
IBM 很快把所有产品都转向了晶体管 | |
bringing transistor-based computers into offices, and eventually, homes. | |
把晶体管计算机带入办公室,最终引入家庭 | |
Today, computers use transistors that are smaller than 50 nanometers in size | |
如今,计算机里的晶体管小于 50 纳米 | |
- for reference, a sheet of paper is roughly 100,000 nanometers thick. | |
- 而一张纸的厚度大概是 10 万纳米 | |
And they're not only incredibly small, they're super fast | |
晶体管不仅小,还超级快 | |
- they can switch states millions of times per second, and can run for decades. | |
- 每秒可以切换上百万次,并且能工作几十年 | |
A lot of this transistor and semiconductor development happened | |
很多晶体管和半导体的开发在"圣克拉拉谷" | |
in the Santa Clara Valley, between San Francisco and San Jose, California. | |
这个地方在加州,位于"旧金山"和"圣荷西"之间 | |
As the most common material used to create semiconductors is silicon, | |
而生产半导体最常见的材料是 "硅" | |
this region soon became known as Silicon Valley. | |
所以这个地区被称为 "硅谷" | |
Even William Shockley moved there, founding Shockley Semiconductor, | |
甚至 William Shockley 都搬了过去,创立了"肖克利半导体" | |
whose employees later founded Fairchild Semiconductors, | |
里面的员工后来成立了"仙童半导体" | |
whose employees later founded Intel - the world's largest computer chip maker today. | |
这里面的员工后来创立了英特尔 - 当今世界上最大的计算机芯片制造商 | |
Ok, so we've gone from relays to vacuum tubes to transistors. | |
好了,我们从"继电器"到"真空管"到"晶体管" | |
We can turn electricity on and off really, really, really fast. | |
我们可以让电路开闭得非常非常快 | |
But how do we get from transistors to actually computing something, | |
但我们是如何用晶体管做计算的? | |
especially if we don't have motors and gears? | |
我们没有马达和齿轮啊? | |
That's what we're going to cover over the next few episodes. | |
我们接下来几集会讲 | |
Thanks for watching. See you next week. | |
感谢观看 下周见 |
CCS计算机科学导论 02电子计算机Electronic Computing
最新推荐文章于 2024-09-25 16:08:43 发布