What Hath ENIAC Wrought?
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History of ENIAC
A Short History of the Second American Revolution by Dilys Winegrad and Atsushi Akera (1) Today, the northeast corner of the old Moore School building at the University of Pennsylvania houses a bank of advanced computing workstations maintained by the professional staff of the Computing and Educational Technology Service of Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science. There, fifty years ago, in a larger room with drab- colored walls and open rafters, stood the first general purpose electronic computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer, or ENIAC. It spanned 150 feet in width with twenty banks of flashing lights indicating the results of its computations. ENIAC could add 5,000 numbers or do fourteen 10-digit multiplications in a second-- dead slow by present-day standards, but fast compared with the same task performed on a hand calculator. The fastest mechanical relay computers being operated experimentally at Harvard, Bell Laboratories, and elsewhere could do no more than 15 to 50 additions per second, a full two orders of magnitude slower. By showing that electronic computing circuitry could actually work, ENIAC paved the way for the modern computing industry that stands as its great legacy. ENIAC was by no means the first computer. In 1839, an Englishman Charles Babbage designed and developed the first true mechanical digital computer, which he described as a "difference engine," for solving mathematical problems including simple differential equations. He was assisted in his work by a woman mathematician, Ada Countess Lovelace, a member of the aristocracy and the daughter of Lord Byron. They worked out the mathematics of mechanical computation, which, in turn, led Babbage to design the more ambitious analytical engine. -
THE HISTORY of the INVENTIONS LEADING to the Developmffintofthecomputersandthe RELATED EFFECTS on EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCTION and SOCIETY
THE HISTORY OF THE INVENTIONS LEADING TO THE DEVELOPMffiNTOFTHECOMPUTERSANDTHE RELATED EFFECTS ON EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCTION AND SOCIETY By NORMA IRENE SCUDDER d Bachelor of Arts Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1%6 Master of Arts in Teaching Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City, Oklahoma l%9 Master of Arts in Teaching Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1973 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION july, 1988 ~es'\s \~i~~ .:S !...\ s~.,p \-, Co~,;t.. THE HISTORY OF THE INVENTIONS LEADING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMPUTERS AND THE RELATED EFFECI'S ON EDUCATIONAL INSTRUCTION AND SOCIETY Thesis Approved: Dean of the Graduate College ii 1322549 COPYRIGHT by Norma Irene Scudder july, 1988 ACKNOWLEDGEMENfS I wish to express deep appreciation to Dr. Kenneth L. King, committe chairman, for his encouragement, perseverance, and willingness to assist me in this project, without which this effort would not have been possible. My sincere gratitude goes to Dr. Bruce A. Petty for advising and directing the writing of the dissertation. To aU of my committee members, including Dr. William E. Segall and Dr. Kenneth A. Stern. for giving immeasurable help to me, both in the courses taken and in personal assistance, I give my thanks. Also, I am grateful to my professorial colleagues for their support and friendship, and especially to Dr. Donald R. Brumfield, Dr. Melva W. Curtis, Rena johnson, Ron Kriesel, and Dr. William McDonald for their contributions. A very special thanks goes to my secretary, Mrs. -
The Origins of Modern Computing
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Purdue E-Pubs Purdue University Purdue e-Pubs Department of Computer Science Technical Reports Department of Computer Science 1990 The Origins of Modern Computing Saul Rosen Report Number: 90-1013 Rosen, Saul, "The Origins of Modern Computing" (1990). Department of Computer Science Technical Reports. Paper 15. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cstech/15 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. TIlE ORIGINS OF MODERN COMPUTING Saul Rosen CSD-1R-1013 AuguSL 1990 The Origins of Modern Computing Saul Rosen Department of Computer Sciences Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana. Abstract The modem electronic computer bad its origins in the work of J. Presper Eckert and John Maucbly and their colleagues at the Moore School of Electrical Engineer ing of the University of Pennsylvania in the years between 1942 and 1946. This arti cle contains a brief review of that period, and of some of the publications that deal with its history. The latter part of the article reviews several recent publications that seek to detract from the importance of the work at the Moore School during those years by giving exaggerated importance to an earlier attempt to build a small special purpose electronic computer. Introduction I think that the most important and most productive period in the history of computing was the period from 1942 to 1946 at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the Univer sity of Pennsylvania. -
Inventory of Art Burks’ Papers [Ca
Inventory of Art Burks’ Papers [ca. October 2008 accessions] Created by Amanda Kay Barrett Last Updated July 14, 2009 Contents: Annals – 2 boxes 2 Articles by Arthur Burks – 1 box 4 Articles by Others – Box 1 of 2 6 Articles by Others – Box 2 of 2 10 Book Draft – 1 box 18 Books, a few with Arthur Burks articles – 1 box 20 Books and Articles by AWB – 1 box 21 Books by Others – 4 Boxes 22 Computer History – 1 box 26 Course Notes – 1 box 38 ENIAC Miscellany [January 2009 Accession] 39 ENIAC reports and trial docs, Atanasoff docs – 1 box 39 ENIAC trial and CDC – 1 box 42 Misc – Box 1 of 5 43 Misc – Box 2 of 5 44 Misc – Box 3 of 5 45 Misc – Box 4 of 5 Misc – Box 5 of 5 49 Trial Presentations – 1 box 50 Trial Testimony – 1 box 51 Von Neumann Atanasoff ENIAC – 1 box 51 Drawings/Photos – 1 box 52 Miscellaneous Folder Box (2 boxes) [January 2009 52 Accession] 1 Annals – 2 boxes • Annals of the History of Computing Cumulative Index Volumes 1-5 • Annals of the History of Computing Indices Volumes 1-10 • Annals of the History of Computing Vol. 1, No. 1 (1979) • Annals of the History of Computing Vol. 1, No. 2 (1979) • Annals of the History of Computing Vol. 2, No. 2 (1980) • Annals of the History of Computing Vol. 2, No. 4 (1980) • Annals of the History of Computing Vol. 3, No. 1 (1981) • Annals of the History of Computing Vol. 3, No. 2 (1981) • Annals of the History of Computing Vol. -
Appendix Collections of Biographies and Memoirs
APPENDIX COLLECTIONS OF BIOGRAPHIES AND MEMOIRS Anon., Leaders in American Science, Who's Who in American Education, Inc., Nashville, Tenn., 8 Vols., 1953- 1969. Anon., “Thanks for the Memories,” Datamation, Vol. 28, No. 10, Sept. 1982, pp. 27-52. Anon., Who's Who in Computers and Data Processing 1971, Quadrangle Books, New York, 5th ed., 1971. Applied Computer Research, Directory of Top Computer Executives, Applied Computer Research, Phoenix, Ariz., 1983. Azimov, Isaac, and Karen A. Frenkel, Robots: Machines in Man's Image, Harmony Books, New York, 1985. Berkeley, Edmund C., Who's Who in the Computer Field, Berkeley Enterprises, Newtonville, Mass., 1963. Caddes, Carolyn, Portraits of Success: Impressions of Silicon Valley Pioneers, Tioga Publishing Co., Palo Alto, Calif, 1986. Cortada, James W., Historical Dictionary of Data Processing: Biographies, Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., 1987. Cringely, Robert X., Accidental Empires, Williams Patrick/Addison Wesley, Reading, Mass., 1992. Debus, Allen G., World Who's Who in Science, Marquis-Who's Who, Inc., Chicago, 1968. Levering, Robert, Michael Katz, and Milton Moskowitz, Computer Entrepreneurs: Who's Making It Big and How in America's Upstart Industry, New American Library, New York, 1984. Levy, Steven, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden City, N.Y, 1984. Ralston, Anthony, and Edwin D. Reilly, Jr., Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Engineering, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1983. Richie, David, The Computer Pioneers, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1986. Rosenberg, Jerry M., The Computer Prophets, MacMillan Co., London, 1969. Slater, Robert, Portraits in Silicon, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1987. Tropp, Henry S., “The Effervescent Years: A Retrospective,” IEEE Spectrum, Vol. -
J. Presper Eckert
J. Presper Eckert PETER ECKSTEIN The life experiences of any human influence the way we think and the types of activities in which we engage. This paper examines the early life of J. Presper Eckert, one of the inventors of the ENIAC, and details those experiences which obviously came to influence his contributions to the creation of the ENIAC and subsequent computers. Introduction res Eckert’s father had built several large court apartment build- Pings in Philadelphia, but one had a troublesome intercommuni- cation system in the lobbies. Operation required several dozen large ‘number 6 batteries, and every month or so a tenant would acciden- tally leave a phone off the hook, exhausting all of their power, so new ones had to be bought and installed. Pres knew that the latest radios could run on household current because of new devices called “battery eliminators,” and he devised a similar approach. He took parts out of some eliminators, worked them into a metal box, and hooked them up to replace the batteries in the intercom system. It worked-and would continue to work for the next 30 years. John Eckert was very impressed with his son’s initial success- but even more when the telephone repairman came by to check the system. John said that his son had replaced the batteries, but the repairman carefully explained that this was impossible: “I’ve talked to the Connecticut Telephone and Telegraph Company that made this thing, and they’ve tried to build such devices and can’t do it.” John replied gleefully: “That’s a lot of baloney. -
Resources and Collections Associated with the Peirce Edition Project the Max H. Fisch Library Is a Large and Complex Cluster Of
André De Tienne 15 January 2020 1 Resources and Collections Associated with the Peirce Edition Project The Max H. Fisch Library is a large and complex cluster of scholarly resources and collections, the vast majority of which is associated with the Peirce Edition Project. Administratively, the Max H. Fisch Library depends on the Institute for American Thought and is sometimes informally called the IAT Library. That is more liKely the case when referring to collections not associated with the Peirce Edition Project, such as those associated with the Santayana Edition, American Studies, and German American Studies. The holdings of the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies are not associated with the Max H. Fisch Library, and not really with the “IAT Library.” The FredericK Douglass Papers do not have library holdings and whatever they have has never been associated with the Max H. Fisch Library. For purposes of clarity in this document, the “Max H. Fisch Library” will designate only what of it is associated with the Peirce Project, which practically amounts to nearly all of it. The following report focuses on the volume and space occupied by the resources and collections associated only with the Peirce Edition Project. It therefore does not take into account the following resources: the Santayana library (their own collection, the Richard Colton Lyon collection [shelves Q32 to Q36, R22 to R26], and booKs received from Paul Nagy—the latter two more broadly associated with American Studies, but historically dependent on the Santayana Edition); and the few booKs associated with German-American Studies (shelves R12 to R14, including Marianne WoKecK’s volumes 2 and 3 of the Papers of William Penn).