In the Beginning was Information
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A1.2.2 The <strong>In</strong>formation SpiralThe quantities of information of a large number of examples from languages,everyday events, electronic data processing, and biological life,are given in Table 3 in terms of bits. A graphical representation of <strong>the</strong> fullrange of values requires more than 24 orders of magnitude (powers often), so that a logarithmic spiral has been chosen here. A selection of valuesfrom Table 3 is represented in Figure 33 where each scale divisionindicates a tenfold increase from <strong>the</strong> previous one.Two different information ranges are illustrated in Figure 34, namely biologicalinformation as stored in DNA molecules – represented by <strong>the</strong> ant –and a microchip as used in <strong>the</strong> latest computers.1. Computer technology: Konrad Zuse (1910-1996), a German inventor,pioneered <strong>the</strong> concept of a program-driven computer when he built <strong>the</strong>first operational electrical computing machine Z3 in 1941. It utilised 600telephone relays for calculations, and 2,000 relays for storage. It couldstore 64 numbers in every group of 22 binary positions, could performbetween 15 and 20 arithmetic operations per second, and one multiplicationrequired 4 to 5 seconds. The next advance <strong>was</strong> <strong>the</strong> introduction ofvacuum tubes (first generation electronic computers), and <strong>the</strong> ENIACcomputer became operational in 1946. It had more than 18 000 vacuumtubes and o<strong>the</strong>r components wired toge<strong>the</strong>r by means of more than half amillion soldered connections. One addition operation required 0.2 thousandthsof a second and a multiplication could be performed in 2.8 thousandthsof a second. This installation utilised a word length 24 of 10 decimalplaces, it weighed 30 tons, and consumed 150 kW of electrical power.After several years of research transistors were invented in 1947. Theywere much smaller and faster than vacuum tubes, and <strong>the</strong>ir introduction asswitching elements initiated <strong>the</strong> second computer generation in 1955. Thenext milestone on <strong>the</strong> way leading to <strong>the</strong> powerful computers of today,<strong>was</strong> <strong>the</strong> idea of integrated circuits (ICs). Different components are incorporatedand interconnected in similarly looking units made of <strong>the</strong> samematerials. The first IC <strong>was</strong> made in 1958, based on <strong>the</strong> novel integrationidea proposed by Kilby and Hoerni. Fur<strong>the</strong>r development of this conceptand <strong>the</strong> steady increase in <strong>the</strong> number of circuit elements per silicon chip,saw <strong>the</strong> advent of <strong>the</strong> third computer generation. ICs have undergone arapid development since <strong>the</strong> first simple ones introduced in 1958. Today64-Megabit chips are commonplace.24 Word length: A set of bits which is processed as a unit, is called a word. The rangeof numbers which can be handled, as well as <strong>the</strong> number of data storage locationswhich can be addressed, depends on <strong>the</strong> length and <strong>the</strong> structure of <strong>the</strong> word (seealso Table 3).182