From the Origin of "Computer" to ENIAC: The Birth of the

Digital Age
Enhanced Narration Script
The word "computer" didn't always mean a machine. In the early 1600s, it referred to a person—
someone who computes, who does calculations. These human computers were often hired to do
astronomical calculations or complex arithmetic for engineering, navigation, or accounting. Many
were women, working in teams to solve complex mathematical problems by hand.

But then came a storm of innovation.

In the 1830s, a man named Charles Babbage envisioned something no one else had dared to build:
a machine that could perform any mathematical calculation—automatically. This machine was
called the Analytical Engine, and it had all the basic elements of a modern computer: an arithmetic
unit, a control flow with conditional branching and loops, and memory. It was the first design for a
general-purpose computer. But sadly, due to lack of funding and the precision machining
limitations of his era, Babbage never completed it.

Alongside him was Ada Lovelace, daughter of the famous poet Lord Byron. Often called the world's
first programmer, she saw beyond mere number crunching and realized this machine could follow a
sequence of instructions—a program. In 1843, she wrote what many consider the first
computer algorithm, envisioning that machines could one day compose music and create art,
not just crunch numbers.

But long before these mechanical computers could come to life, something else had already begun:
Punch cards. Originally used in Jacquard looms in the early 1800s to control fabric patterns, punch
cards stored data using holes. Babbage borrowed this idea to program his machines. So, in a way,
punch cards were like a language waiting for a machine to understand them.
Fast-forward to the late 19th century. Enter Thomas Edison, who while perfecting the electric light
bulb, observed a strange thing: The blackening of the bulb. Curious, he inserted a metal wire inside
the bulb and discovered that electric current could flow through vacuum to that wire—this became
known as the Edison Effect, the earliest observation of electrons moving freely in vacuum.

But Edison didn't know what to do with it.

Years later, in 1904, John Ambrose Fleming took Edison's idea and created the first vacuum tube
diode, a device that allowed current to flow only in one direction. This became the first electronic
rectifier, converting AC signals into DC.

Still, radio needed something more powerful.

That's where Lee De Forest stepped in. In 1906, he added a third element called a grid between the
filament (cathode) and the plate (anode), creating the triode, which he called the "Audion." With
this, small input signals could control large output currents. This was amplification. Suddenly, weak
radio signals could be amplified and heard clearly. De Forest received his patent for this
revolutionary device in 1907.

The vacuum tube wasn't just a switch or amplifier. It became the heart of early electronic circuits.

By the 1930s and 40s, engineers started realizing they could use these tubes to build machines that
didn't just amplify sound—but do logic. They could represent the binary digits 0 and 1 by
turning the tubes on and off.

And that gave birth to ENIAC, begun in 1943 and completed in 1945. Short for Electronic
Numerical Integrator and Computer, it was the first fully functional general-purpose electronic
digital computer. It used 17,468 vacuum tubes (not 18,000), along with 70,000 resistors,
10,000 capacitors, 6,000 switches, and 1,500 relays. The massive machine consumed 150
kilowatts of power and could perform 5,000 additions per second. ENIAC was 80 feet long, 8 feet
high, weighed 30 tons, and occupied 1,800 square feet.
What's remarkable is that ENIAC was programmed by six brilliant women mathematicians:
Kay McNulty, Jean Jennings, Betty Snyder, Marlyn Wescoff, Ruth Lichterman, and Fran Bilas.
They were the world's first electronic computer programmers, manually setting switches and
plugging cables to program the machine.

ENIAC wasn't perfect—it required constant maintenance, generated enormous amounts of

heat requiring powerful cooling systems, and took days to reprogram for different
calculations—but it worked. For three years, from 1945 to 1948, ENIAC remained the only
functioning electronic, general-purpose digital computer in the world. And it marked the
transition from the age of mechanical computers to the digital revolution.

ENIAC was publicly unveiled on February 14, 1946, capturing the world's imagination and
ushering in the computer age.

From humans called computers, to mechanical dreams, to glowing vacuum tubes and finally to
machines like ENIAC—the journey was long, filled with genius, determination, and collaboration,
and laid the foundation for everything we use today.

Key Fact Corrections Made:

1. ENIAC specifications: Corrected from 18,000 to 17,468 vacuum tubes (verified from multiple
sources)
2. Lee De Forest timeline: Added specific dates - invented Audion in 1906, patented in 1907

3. Fleming diode: Added 1904 date for Fleming's vacuum tube diode
4. ENIAC programming: Added information about the six women programmers

5. ENIAC physical specifications: Added dimensions (80 feet long, 8 feet high, 30 tons, 1,800 sq
ft)

6. ENIAC timeline: Clarified it was begun in 1943, completed in 1945, publicly unveiled in 1946
 7. Ada Lovelace: Added context about her being Byron's daughter and her 1843 algorithm
8. Additional context: Added information about cooling systems, maintenance challenges, and
ENIAC's unique position in computing history

Additional Enhancement Suggestions:

Consider adding a brief mention of World War II's influence on ENIAC's development (it was
initially funded to calculate artillery firing tables)
You might want to include a visual comparison of ENIAC's size to something relatable (like "the
size of a large room")

The transition from ENIAC to transistors could be a natural follow-up topic for future videos