When did primitive people appear? When and where did the first man appear on the planet? Conditions for creating a “smart car”

Every person at a certain period of his life thought about the fact that centuries-old attempts to reveal this secret have not yet led to results; scientists are still debating on this topic. It is logical that the truth must be sought in the most ancient sources, which are closest to the moment of the origin of life.

Theory one: God created humanity

One of the first legends that sounded authentic were the stories that people were created, that is, by God. Many peoples believed that the first were made of clay. It is not known for certain why this particular material was considered “human.” Most likely, this is due to the fact that clay is a radioactive substance, which is explained by the presence of uranium in its composition, and during decay it can release significant amounts of energy. The ancestors claimed that this was the energy that was used to create living beings. The legends about the first woman and man are known throughout the world.

Theory two: hermaphrodite people

According to other myths that tell how the first one appeared, they originated from certain hermaphrodite creatures. The adherents of this theory were the peoples of Africa and Sudan. They believed that the division of people by gender occurred after a huge number of years.

Theory three: aliens

Modern versions of how people were born connected this fact with the presence of alien life. People believed that unearthly creatures came to Earth and created life on the planet using artificial methods.

Theory four: living cell

For a long time, many scientists rejoiced, believing that they had solved the mystery of how people appeared on Earth. It seemed quite obvious to them that the emergence of humanity was associated with the formation of a living cell.

They built various models of how a living cell was born from inanimate matter under the influence of chemical processes. It was argued that this living particle was located in the earth's ocean, which at that time was simply seething with chemical reactions.

It was later proven that everything necessary for the emergence of life was in space long before the formation of the Earth. Scientists insisted that the appearance of a living cell is a random coincidence of circumstances and unforeseen biochemical processes that explain how one person appeared.

However, there were people who actively refuted this version, since the content of the genetic code is an abstract record that is impossible to predict. who first discovered the genetic code, argued that a living cell could not arise on its own. But even if we assume that this happened, there is no explanation for why such a variety of living forms arose that arose as a result of a single cell.

Adherents of this theory cited the development of Darwin as an example of how people were born, who believed that all living things were formed as a result of random and chaotic mutations. As a result of natural selection, forms that were unsuitable and unadapted to life died. And those strongest who survived continued to survive and develop.

Today, such a theory of how people appeared on Earth does not stand up to criticism. Despite numerous excavations, it was not possible to find a single creature from which another creature could have arisen. If Darwin were right, we would now be seeing strange and wonderful monsters.

The recent discovery that most genetic mutations have a clear direction has finally disqualified the "chance" theory. And the rest of the mutations, which are caused by disorders in the body, cannot carry anything constructive.

Theory five: evolution

The assumptions of this theory are that the ancient ancestors of humans were great apes, or monkeys. The modification had 4 stages:


The flaw in this theory was that scientists were unable to explain in detail how mutations could contribute to the emergence of complex life forms. So far, not a single type of beneficial mutation has been discovered; they all lead to gene destruction.

Theory six: Hyperboreans and Lemurians

Esoteric history has its own interpretation of how people appeared on Earth. It is argued that before modern humanity, the planet was inhabited by huge giants called Lemurians and Hyperboreans. However, the theory was criticized because, according to this, this simply could not happen. Our planet does not have enough resources to feed such giants. And this is not the only refutation. If the growth of these creatures really reached enormous sizes, they would not be able to lift themselves, and with a sharp movement the force of inertia would knock them down. In addition, their vessels would not withstand such a load, and the blood flow would break through their walls.

This is only a small part of the theories, but practical experience shows that each person chooses a version according to his worldview.

Numerous studies have proven that initially all embryos are female, and only during the period of hormonal changes some of them transform into the male sex. Many scientists believe that this is due to changes in the male genotype, which lead to abnormalities in the Y chromosome. It is she who determines the male gender. According to these data, after some time the planet will be inhabited by hermaphrodite women. US experts support this theory, as they were able to prove that the female chromosome is much older than the male one.

With the help of modern research, a huge number of facts have been discovered, but even they do not provide a clear explanation of how and where man appeared. Therefore, people have no choice but to choose the most acceptable theory of the origin of life, trusting their intuition.

The acquaintance with the computer took place not so long ago, but its appearance was preceded by a long history of creation.

A little history

Blaise Pascal and Wilhelm Leibniz's adding machine are considered the ancestors of the modern personal computer. The term “computer” was first mentioned back in the 18th century. Then this term was applied to any mechanical computing device that could perform the simplest operations - addition and subtraction.

In the Oxford Dictionary, the word "computer" was interpreted as "computer".

Later, at the beginning of the 19th century, a more “smart” machine was invented that could solve even simple equations. Even later, they were able to create the first analytical multifunctional machine operating using punched cards. Given the close attention of scientists to these devices, their modernization took place at an accelerated pace. In a short time they were equipped with electric relays and vacuum tubes.

A long way from the first computer to the modern computer

In 1946, the first computer was presented to the world. True, that machine was many times larger than a modern computer and absorbed quite a large amount of electricity. The weight of the first computer was approximately 30 tons. Only large, wealthy companies and enterprises allowed themselves to use such computers.

In the early 60s, thanks to the invention of transistors, manufacturers were able to release the first mini-computer, the PDP-8. The computer was equipped with RAM for storing information, and they learned to save information on magnetic disks. The leading position in the production of computers at that time was taken by IBM, which to this day remains the largest computer manufacturer in the world.

A landmark event in the development of personal computers is the creation by Bill Gates of the Basic language interpreter “Altair”, which made it possible to create a variety of programs for computers.

Since the creation of Altair, the production of computers began to be widespread. Many manufacturers of PCs and software for them began to appear.

From that moment on, the main emphasis was on improving the quality and versatility of this technology, which allowed a person to use a multifunctional and compact “super device” - a modern computer.

The history of the emergence and development of computer technology dates back to ancient times.

Even in ancient times, they used a variety of means for counting, for example, the Chinese abacus - suan-pan, their basis was five, not ten.

Before the Romans, the abacus was made of wooden boards, and sand and pebbles were used for counting, but the Romans made it more perfect by making the abacus from marble, on which they carved indentations for marble balls.

The well-known Russian abacus can still be found in use today, although less and less often; it remains rather a habit developed over the years.

After many years, 1642 became a significant year in the world of computing, in this year the Frenchman and mathematician Blaise Pascal discovered the world's first calculating machine. It was created on the basis of gear wheels, and it was capable of adding decimal numbers.

Very little time later, in 1673, in Germany, the mathematician Leibniz created the first arithmetic machine that could perform the simplest arithmetic operations: such as addition and subtraction, division and multiplication, which later became the prototype of arithmometers. They began to be mass-produced starting in 1820 and were used until the 1960s.

The English mathematician Charles Babbage in 1823 put forward the idea of ​​​​creating a universal calculating machine that would work based on a program.

The design of this machine included the most basic devices inherent in computers: an arithmetic unit and a control unit, data input and printing, and memory. However, the implementation of this project was not destined to be completed, although they tried to implement it for 70 years. But programs were created for such machines, and Ada Lovelace, the daughter of John Byron, can rightfully be considered one of the first female programmers - one of the programming languages ​​was named after her.

In the 1940s, a calculating machine was created based on a program, or rather, it was based on an electromechanical relay. Already for the design of these calculating machines, the apparatus of mathematical logic was used. At the same time, rapid progress in scientific and technical inventions in computer technology began. Serial production of electromechanical calculating machines began and immediately after this event the first computers appeared. In them, logical elements were implemented on the basis of radio tubes.

The very first electronic computer, ENIAC, was assembled in America in 1946, immediately after the end of the Second World War. The group of creators of the first computer included the most outstanding scientist of the 20th century - John von Neumann. After all, it is to him that the arithmetic unit, processor, input-output device, as well as memory intended for storing programs and data owe their appearance in the computer.

At the same time, they worked on projects for electronic computers in England, in this country the first universal computer was developed in 1949, and also in the USSR, the first computer was developed here in 1950, and in 1952 the first large Soviet computer, BESM, appeared .

The very first computers were quite large devices. To house one computer, a very large room was required, which was filled with cabinets with electronic equipment. Computers operated using vacuum tubes, which were large in size and quite expensive.

Only the largest enterprises and institutions could afford to purchase such computers.


A whole staff of engineers was allocated to maintain these computers, because... it was necessary to connect multiple wires in a special way, and this took a lot of time.

Already in 1948, transistors appeared, which were miniature electronic devices; with their help, it was possible to replace vacuum tubes in computers, which in turn made it possible to significantly reduce the size of computers.

Where did the first man appear on our planet? This question has been troubling scientists since the time of Charles Darwin. The question of where the first man appeared is no less of interest to many curious ordinary people. However, this topic is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. The fact is that if you start to understand it in order to adequately answer the question of where the first man appeared, it turns out that there is still no final and generally accepted opinion among either archaeologists or anthropologists. Who is considered a person? Which link in the evolutionary chain suddenly became human, leaving its own parent at the level of monkeys? After all, evolution is not at all

a one-time act, but long-term and very slow transformations. The second difficulty with the question of where the first person appeared lies in the criteria themselves - how to generally separate a person, by what criteria? By upright posture, opposing the thumb, by the use of tools, or still by the volume of the brain? Let's try to sketch a very brief picture of the path of Homo sapiens.

Where did the first people appear?

The answer is in Africa, apparently. According to modern researchers, the lines of modern and immediate separated approximately 8-6 million years ago. It was then that the first upright walking hominids appeared on the planet. Their earliest fossil representative is the creature Sahelantrom. He lived about 6-7 million years ago and already walked on two legs. Of course, it can hardly be called

the oldest man. The rest of his features were still similar to those of apes, but the fact that they had already descended from the branches significantly changed their lifestyle and directed evolution in the right direction. Sahelanthropus was followed by Orrorin (about 6 million years ago), the well-known Australopithecus (about 4 million years ago), and Paranthropus (2.5 million). These are not all the links found by archaeologists and dating back to this long period, but only some representatives of the chain. It is important that each of these hominids had certain progressive features compared to their predecessors. The first hominids that were truly close to the modern type of people were Homo habilis and Homo ergaster (working), which appeared 2.4 and 1.9 million years ago. Like all previous links, these ancestors of today's people lived in Africa - the cradle of humanity. And finally, the truly undisputed people are Homo sapiens, who appeared only 40 thousand years ago. It is interesting that this species of man also arose in Africa, but at the same time Europe was already inhabited by people! People who, according to modern scientists, appeared already in Europe,

however, over time they disappeared from the face of the Earth and are not direct descendants of modern humanity, but only a dead-end branch of evolution. We are talking about the famous Neanderthals, who became extinct for reasons that are not entirely clear about 25 thousand years ago.

Where did the first ancient civilizations appear?

Be that as it may, it was destined to eventually spread from Africa to all continents of the planet. Since then, people have no longer undergone significant biological changes. However, an important event was the so-called This is the process of transition from an appropriating economy to a reproducing economy, that is, the emergence of agriculture and cattle breeding. New forms of management turned out to be much more effective, allowing tribes to significantly increase their numbers, create a surplus product of labor, giving rise to social stratification. Ultimately, these processes led to the emergence of the first civilizations and states that arose in Mesopotamia.

He is capable of completing any task: be it printing text or launching a spacecraft. Even children find it easier to master a computer language than to understand the intricacies of their native speech. I wonder when the first computer appeared and became the best assistant in work and a link with the whole world.

Conditions for creating a “smart car”

We will leave aside the philosophical part and will not dwell on the consideration of ancient mechanical inventions, such as adding machines and other interesting technologies that served as the prototype of computing devices. Even in conditions of elementary programming, they remained pure mechanics, limited in functionality. We will be talking about electronic computers that have something like a processor and are capable of processing any technically complex task. Our questions will also include the topic of what year the first computer appeared.

Its appearance was preceded by the development of vacuum tubes. This happened at the beginning of the last century. There was no talk about semiconductor transistors and microcircuits at that time. But this was the period of the appearance of tube diodes and various amplifiers. They played the role of “building blocks” when working with electronic circuits. Inventors actively used this opportunity.

In what year did the first personal computer appear?

For a long time, the American model ENIAC was the leader in this area. Work on it began in 1943 and continued for three years. But already at that time, the British not only created, but also launched a computing device called “Colossus”. Moreover, the number of these devices was tens. The first “Colossus” had one and a half thousand lamps. His goal was to decipher German messages. This happened by simulating the design of the Enigma encryption machine.

The year is 1944 – the British created the second version of Collosus Mark 2. The inventor of the “Colossi” was British electronics engineer Tommy Flowers. After the need for these machines disappeared, Churchill issued an order to destroy them and classify the information. Therefore, we learned about when the very first computer appeared only at the end of the 20th century.

The progenitor of modern computer technology

The English “Colossus” was not destined to receive further development, so the place of honor as the predecessor of the modern computer was assigned to its closest competitor - the more famous and “advanced” American computer ENIAC.

This device appeared thanks to the war, or rather, the need to calculate the flight path of an artillery shell. If calculators were available, not a dozen people were involved in calculating the distance. Despite all the time and effort spent, the result was not accurate.

John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert are the names of the “parents” of the American miracle. The first of them was a physicist who cherished the dream of building a machine for weather forecasts, the other was known as a real technical genius. They both had the same idea and got into the University of Pennsylvania Technical High School at the same time. And then a coincidence of interests between two enthusiasts and military structures was discovered: some needed a powerful computing machine, others had a desire to work on its creation.

As a result, in April 1943, the army allocated funds for the development of the vehicle. Many innovative ideas for that time were used in it, which formed the basis for subsequent generations of devices.

Weighing 30 tons, 6 m high and 26 m long, “ENIAC” fit alone in an entire room. With all its characteristics, the device’s memory had room to store only twenty ten-digit numbers.

Despite the presence of shortcomings and difficulties, the successful operation of ENIAC lasted nine years, since the end of the war did not eliminate the need for accurate calculations.

EDVAC was the name of the next invention of this pair of scientists. It was distinguished by great convenience and thoughtfulness. Work on this brainchild began immediately after ENIAC was ready. When developing the computer, a fundamentally new approach was used - its design used special memory cells to store data and programs.

The main thing at that time was an amazing coincidence of circumstances. To help scientists, the authorities added John von Neumann, who was no less a brilliant mathematician, to the team. The work of these talents on one project led to a stunning result. The computer industry has begun to move forward with giant strides, and we still work on machines that use the principles of John von Neumann.

By the way, the purchase of such computers was available only to large enterprises and institutions.

IBM PC: the emergence of the first personal computers

The mass production of personal computers in the late 70s caused a drop in demand for large computers and minicomputers. This caused serious concern at IBM, which is in a leading position in the production of large models. Therefore, in 1979, the company decided to test its strength in the PC market.

The first IBMPC personal computer was presented to the general public in August 1981. A little time passed, and it gained enormous popularity among users. It only took a couple of years for them to take a leading position in the industry.

So, the first personal computer available to a wide range of users is, of course, ENIAC. All subsequent ones became its continuation. Today we laugh at the predictions made by the popular magazine Popular Mechanics (1949) about the advent of computers weighing less than 1.5 tons. They were in demand over the next decade, but what is the weight of any of the latest smartphones? What can you say about its performance? But very little time has passed since the first development.

When the first computer appeared, it is no longer a secret to anyone. And the first computer certainly cannot be compared with modern machines.