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Publications Core Magazine, 2012 This 2012 COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE C O RE A Publication of 25 Years of the Fellow Awards the Computer The Origins of Timesharing History Museum An Evening with Walter Isaacson Close up of the Amdahl 470V/6 Computer, 1975. The 470V/6 was the Amdahl Corporation’s fi rst product and ran the same software as IBM System/370 computers but cost less and was smaller and faster. Opposite page: Close-up of IBM 305 RAMAC System Diagram B CORE 2012 / HALL OF FELLOWS DEPARTMENTS MUSEUM UPDATES EXPLORE THE COLLECTION 2 4 6 56 60 58 Contributors An Analog Life An Evening with Oral Histories: Donor Profile Recent Artifact Walter Isaacson The Origins of Donations 3 5 61 Timesharing CEO’s Letter Talking to the Future 7 Museum Donors The President @ CHM C O RE 2012 9 SPECIAL SECTION: TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF FELLOWS 10 12 14 18 The Fellow Awards Fellows at a Glance Visionary Pioneer 25 Years of Fellows It was 25 years ago that the See an overview of our Fellows— Grace Murray Hopper was a The Computer History Museum Museum began its Fellows where they studied and worked unique individual: a woman in a Fellows often have very inter- program. Since that time, the and what they are known for—in man’s world of computers and esting life trajectories, full of Award has been given to over this two-page chart that shows mathematics and an admiral in dramatic turns and unexpected 60 outstanding individuals in 25 years of Fellows history in an the U.S. Naval Reserve. Hopper, alternatives. Read about the computing whose work has accessible, graphic format. who made several groundbreak- Fellows in depth in this collec- made a difference. Museum ing innovations in her career, tion of essays. senior curator Dag Spicer looks was the Museum’s fi rst Fellow. back at the Awards and what Biographer Kurt Beyer high- they mean. lights some of Hopper’s MARK RICHARDS amazing accomplishments. COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM 1 CONTRIBUTORS Editor-in-Chief John C. Hollar Executive Editors Kirsten Tashev Carina Sweet changes in technology, business, history and stem education DR. KURT W. culture, and society. This in- principles meaningful for all Editor at Large cludes areas as diverse as com- visitors, from schoolchildren to Susan Tasaki BEYER puting developments outside retired engineers. Her back- AUTHOR the United States (especially in ground includes a ph.d. in Contributors Kurt, a former naval aviator Germany and the former Soviet developmental psychology, plus Dr. Kurt Beyer Alex Bochannek and professor at the United Union); the histories of analog more than 20 years’ experi- John C. Hollar States Naval Academy, is and non-electronic computing; ence teaching, conducting Lauren Silver military, fi nancial, and business research, and leading education currently an adjunct profes- Dag Spicer sor at Berkeley’s Haas School applications; and theoretical programs in a wide range of of Business, where he teaches computer science. settings, including schools; uni- Photography entrepreneurship and innova- versities; and science, art, and Mark Richards Photography tion. He is the co-founder of a natural history museums. Studio Dizon digital media services company JOHN C. and has authored multiple pat- Design ents (pending) on high-speed HOLLAR DAG Studio1500 PRESIDENT & CEO digital data processing. His book, Grace Hopper and the John C. Hollar, President and SPICER SENIOR CURATOR Invention of the Information Chief Executive Offi cer, directs Age (mit Press), was named the Museum’s strategic plan- Dag Spicer is senior curator at a top ten science/technology ning and operations. He is the Computer History Museum, book for 2010 by the Ameri- responsible for leading the which he joined in 1996. Dag can Library Association. Kurt Museum toward its goal of directs the Museum’s strat- received a master’s in econom- being the world’s leading in- egy relating to its collection ics from Oxford University stitution exploring the history of computer artifacts, fi lms, and his ph.d. from uc Berkeley. of computing and its ongoing documents, software, and Currently, he advises start-ups impact on society. Since joining ephemera—the largest collec- and executives in Silicon Valley the Museum in 2008, Hollar tion of computers and associ- through Morgan Stanley Smith has led the development and ated materials in the world. His Barney. He lives in Mill Valley execution of a new strategic interests include early elec- with his wife and two sons. plan that has produced signifi - tronic computing, computers in cant growth for the Museum medicine, ibm, supercomputers, and its mission. semiconductors, and computer ALEX architecture. He has been in- terviewed hundreds of times by BOCHANNEK LAUREN major news organizations and © 2012 Computer History Museum. The Museum is a CURATOR is internationally recognized as nonprofi t 501(c)(3) organization. Alex Bochannek, curator and SILVER a subject-matter expert in the All artwork is copyright of the VP OF EDUCATION senior manager at the Com- fi eld of computer history. Computer History Museum Lauren Silver is Vice President unless otherwise credited. For puter History Museum, joined reprints and permissions, the staff in 2007 following a of Education at the Computer contact [email protected]. decade of volunteer work with History Museum, where she Subscriptions are a member the Museum. He investigates has worked since 2009. Her benefi t. To purchase additional educational programs incorpo- copies of this issue of Core, complex computer-related please visit: magcloud.com. rate research from the learning Address changes and other sciences into an inquiry-based written correspondence may approach that makes computer be sent to: Computer History Museum, Public Relations email: [email protected] 2 CORE 2012 / HALL OF FELLOWS CEO’S TO OUR VALUED LETTER CORE DONORS A quarter-century ago, the Computer Museum in The Fellows are important for a third rea- Boston established an important tradition that we son. They represent the essence of computing proudly carry on today: the Fellow Awards. The history—a talented and driven individual, or Computer Museum was our predecessor, as many team, trying to solve a problem. Every great leap of you know, and we have carried on several fi ne forward in computing has involved a focused traditions begun there. None, however, is more search for a creative solution to a vexing techni- important than the Fellow Awards. cal issue. Many of the Fellows were told the The Awards are important to us, and to the problem couldn’t be solved at all. Still others pursuit of history, for at least three reasons. First, were told not to make an attempt—mainly the Fellows comprise more than 60 towering because it wasn’t in their job descriptions. From fi gures in the vast fi eld of computing. Every these basic and occasionally rebellious roots, important area is represented. We have honored astounding accomplishments grew. the greats of early hardware design—Konrad The Museum uses a careful and methodical Zuse, Jay Forrester, Gene Amdahl, and oth- process to select each year’s Fellows. Nomina- ers. The Hall includes giants of software—Don tions are open to the public. A select committee Knuth, Ken Thompson, John Backus, Dennis from both the private and public sectors reviews Ritchie, Linus Torvalds, John McCarthy, and each nomination. A weighted balloting process more. The architects of the fi rst commercial narrows the fi eld through multiple rounds of microprocessor are here—Federico Faggin, Ted voting. A Museum committee then makes the Hoff, Stan Mazor, and Masatoshi Shima. We fi nal selection. honor individuals whose skills in both technolo- Only two conditions apply. First, each nomi- gy and business built great commercial enterpris- nee must be alive at the time of selection, a re- es—Gordon Moore, Charles Geschke and John quirement modeled after the Nobel Prize. Second, Warnock, Ken Olsen, and Alan Shugart among we ask that those who are selected also agree them. Finally, we honor individuals like Tim to be publicly inducted at the Fellow Awards Berners-Lee and Vint Cerf, whose very names ceremony. The Fellows Gala is consistently one are synonymous with the stunning development of the highlights of the Museum’s calendar. of a globally connected society. We’re delighted to present profi les of all of Second, the Fellows represent a category of our Fellows in this year’s edition of Core. And unsung heroes whose stories are important to in doing so, we say: here’s to the renegades, the tell. They embody the thankless pursuit of tech- geniuses, the rule-breakers, the entrepreneurs, nical innovation that triggered enormous human and the problem-solvers. These are our Fellows. progress. Their work often went on—and in I hope you enjoy learning more about them, and many cases, continues to go on—well out of the celebrating 25 years of the Awards themselves. limelight of public recognition and acclaim. And yet the diligence, skill, and achievement of our Yours sincerely, Fellows remain a source of inspiration, especially in those moments when we could stand to feel a bit more inspired. Generations will benefi t from the lessons they can teach. JOHN C. HOLLAR PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM 3 MUSEUM UPDATES AN ANALOG LIFE: REMEMBERING JIM WILLIAMS Analog guru Jim Williams sitting at his famous work bench in 2006 “This exhibit is a He never tried to impress you analog signals to distinguish engineers must combine techni- with his math or his intellect. them from digital signals, cal knowledge with a great deal memorial to a man He didn’t make things com- which can only switch between of experience and intuition in but also a monument plicated so you would think 0 and 1 and which exist only order to harness them.
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