Bibliography Konrad Zuse

 Konrad Zuse 

He was born in Berlin on June (the) 22th 1910. In Germany, Zuse graduated as a civil engineer from the Technische Hochschule Berlin-Charlottenburg (today the Technische Universität Berlin or Technical Univeersity of Berlin) in 1935. During his engineering studies, Zuse had to do many routine calculations by hand, which he found boring. This experience led him to dream of a machine that could do calculations. 

He started working at Henschel’s aircraft factory in Dessau, but only a year later he resigned his post to build a programmable machine. He worked in his parents' apartment in 1938 until he made his first attempt, called Z1, which was a binary mechanical calculator operated with electricity and limited programmability. He read instructions from a punched tape. The Z1 never performed well due to lack of sufficient mechanical precision. The Z1 and its original plans were destroyed during World War II.

 His most notable achievement was finishing the first computer controlled by working programs, the Z3 in 1941. This may have been the "first computer", although there are discrepancies in this regard, because if some aspects are considered, such as, for example, that Zuse's machine was not general purpose, perhaps it is for another purpose such as storing words or algorithms and was the first to be able to make 4 mathematical equations.) He also designed a high-level programming language, Plankalkül, supposedly in 1945, although it was a theoretical contribution, as the language was not implemented in Zuse's lifetime nor did it have any direct influence on the first languages developed. He also founded the first computer company in 1946 and built the Z4, which became in 1950 the first computer to be commercialized. 

Due to World War II, Zuse's early work went unnoticed outside Germany. Possibly Zuse's first documented influence on a foreign company was IBM’s acquisition of patents in 1946. Zuse died on December the 18th 1995 in Hünfeld, Hesse. 3 

Bibliografia 

Konrad Zuse - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre