History of Computers - Konrad Zuse

Konrad Zuse was an engineer and a distinguished pioneer in computer technology in Germany. His achievements range from the first working computer to the early stages of computer language to his renowned and still plausible thesis on calculating the Universe. His inventions and ideas still show through to modern times, demonstrating his tremendous success as both an engineer and an inventor.

Overview

Konrad Zuse was born on June 22, 1910 in Berlin, Germany. In his early life he was an avid painter and didn't consider engineering and computer science until later in his life [1]. After switching between three studies, he finally settled on civil engineering and soon after graduated from the Technische Hochschule Berlin-Charlottenburg in 1935. He quickly received a job at Henschel Aviation Company and out of frustration with the long and complicated calculations he was having to perform, he was inspired to begin work with computers. He had no previous contact with them nor knowledge of any other achievements reached in the world of computers; he simply dove head-first into the idea of a mechanical system that would ease the work of an engineer.

Between 1935 and 1938, Zuse built his first computer, the Z1. The first working computer, it was freely programmable and ran on punch tape. However, this device was destroyed in random World War I bombings; all signs of the computer were wiped from history, but not from Zuse's mind [2]. Zuse built two more computers, Z2 and Z3, offering them to the German army who refused them and would not be convinced of their worth. As the war came to an end, Zuse fled to Zurich with his Z3 machine, where he created a fourth machine, the Z4.

                      Konrad Zuse and the Z3, his third working computer.

In 1945, Zuse began work on the first higher level programming language, Plankalkuel. Although it was never put widely into use, the language was the first of its kind and was used by Zuse to create the first chess simulator [3].