Science is a discipline which involves the study of the natural or physical world based on truths, facts and observations which have been deduced out from experiments. Before a scientist can embark on the study of a material and its properties, there are some essential characteristics or properties that he or she should comprehend. Firstly, what kind of atoms is the material made of? Secondly, what is the arrangement of those atoms? And lastly, which bonds exist between the atoms? These questions are vital since they determine the material’s strength, elasticity, ductility and plasticity of the material.
The history of computers can be traced back to the abacus era. However, as time passed by more inventions were made in the field of computer science. One of the major inventions was the development of the silicon based semi - conductors. Semi-conductor refers to a material which is neither a good insulator nor a good conductor of electricity. The introduction of semi – conductors in the computer technology to replace the vacuum tubes was a major milestone. Problems associated with the use of vacuum tubes such as leakages and the burning out of the metals used in electron transmission ceased. Semi-conductors also required less time to warm up as opposed to vacuum tubes. They also reduced the size of the computers since they required less space unlike the vacuum tubes.
Silicon was commonly used in computers due to its easy availability thus making it less expensive as compared with the other semi-conductors. Microchip in computer language refers a small silicon semi-conductor which houses the integrated circuit. It carries performs a number of electronic functions in the computer. On the other hand, integrated circuit commonly referred to as ICs is basically made up of several transistors integrated together.
The ability of computers to perform functions and tasks similar to those that can be performed by human being is referred to as artificial intelligence. Some scholars have defined the term to refer to a discipline of computer science which is mandated with the development of software applications and machines which perform their functions with intelligence. A similar position is up held by the definition that artificial intelligence is the systematic deduction, problem solving and reasoning employed by computers in performing the various functions they are tasked to. It has been argued that for something to be declared intelligent it must have set goals and the set mechanisms to achieve the goals that are in place. Ideally this is the principle underlying artificial intelligence. The computer should be able to predict the outcome once there is some data input. There are a number of differences with regard to the human brain and the CPU of a computer. For instance, the speed of CPU is determined by the system clock while that of a human being depends on the Intelligent Quotient of the person, secondly, the brain uses in its functions synapses while the CPU of the computer uses the electrical logic gates in its operations. It is also prudent to note that the synapses are more complex as opposed to the electrical logic gates in the CPU of a computer. Another difference that is outstanding is that RAM memory of the computer can be upgraded by adding more memory chips in the available slots while that of a human being cannot be upgraded but can be enhanced only.
References
Callan, R. (2010). Mathematics for Computing. Hampshire: Cengage Learning EMEA.
French, C. (2010). Computer Science. Hampshire: Cengage Learning EMEA Publishers.
