Geographic Information Systems: An Introduction, 3rd Edition

2.2 First Automatic Processing of Geographical Information

Although Blaise Pascal is credited with devising the first true calculating machine in 1647, large amounts of data were first processed automatically in 1890, when a tabulating device conceived by Hermann Hollerith was used in compiling the U.S. census. In Hollerith's first apparatus, census data were punched on cards, which were then read electromechanically to compile data in separate registers. In the first half of the twentieth century, Hollerith's various mechanisms were developed further. Data processing using punch cards became an industry.

During World War II, data processing again advanced, primarily to meet the military need for predicting ballistic trajectories. One of the most famous computers developed for that purpose was ENIAC, an acronym for electronic numerical integrator and calculator. After the war, computer development continued. In 1953, IBM launched the model 650, which became the “Model T of the Computer Age” by virtue of being the first electronic computer not to be handmade. More than 100 were produced—in those days an amazing quantity. In today's computer terms, ENIAC, Whirlwind, the IBM 650, and other early electronic computers are referred to as first generation. All first-generation computers suffered from a common drawback: They used vacuum tubes, which, like light bulbs, gave off heat and had limited lifetimes. That alone restricted their application. One 25,000-tube computer of the period ...