From Physics to Daily Life

7Computers and Aviation

Antony Jameson

Although animal flight has a history of 300 million years, serious thought about human flight has a history of only a few hundred years, dating from Leonardo da Vinci,¹⁾ with successful human flight having only been achieved during the last 110 years (see Figures 7.1–7.4). To some extent, this parallels the history of computing. Serious thought about computing dates back to Pascal and Leibnitz. While there was a notable attempt by Babbage to build a working computer in the nineteenth century, successful electronic computers were finally achieved in the 1940s, almost exactly contemporaneously with the development of the first successful jet aircraft. A visual presentation of the early history of computers is shown in Figures 7.5–7.8, while details of the more recent progress in the development of supercomputers and microprocessors are listed in Tables 7.1 and 7.2.

Figure 7.1 (a) Orville and Wilbur Wright, 1903. (U.S. Department of Defense photo. Use of military imagery does not imply or constitute endorsement of Wiley, its products, or services by the U.S. Department of Defense.); (b) The Wright Flyer, 1903. (Courtesy of John T. Daniels, U.S. Library of Congress)²⁾

Figure 7.2 (a) Douglas DC-3, 1935. (© LAURENT MARDON – fotolia.com); (b) ...