Oral history interview with Herman H. Goldstine

Goldstine, Herman Heine, 1913-
1980-08-11

View/Download File

oh018hhg.pdf (102.64 KB)

Persistent link to this item

http://purl.umn.edu/107333
Statistics
View Statistics

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Title

Oral history interview with Herman H. Goldstine

Authors

Published Date

1980-08-11

Publisher

Charles Babbage Institute

Type

Oral History

Abstract

Goldstine, associate director of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) computer project from 1945 to 1956, discusses his role in the project. He describes the acquisition of funding from the Office of Naval Research, the hiring of staff, and his relationship with John von Neumann. Goldstine explains that von Neumann was responsible for convincing the Institute to sponsor the computer project. Goldstine praises von Neumann's contributions, among which he counts the first logical design of a computer and the concept of stored programming. Goldstine turns next to the relations between the project and one of its funders, the Atomic Energy Commission. He points out the conflict of interest of IAS director Robert Oppenheimer, who chaired the AEC General Advisory Committee, and von Neumann who sat on this committee, when other AEC officials discontinued funding for the project. Goldstine also recounts the problems that arose during the project over patent rights and their resolution. Goldstine concludes by discussing the many visitors to the project and the many computers (Whirlwind, ILLIAC, JOHNNIAC, IBM 70l) modeled after the IAS computer.

Keywords

Description

Transcript, 38 pp.

Related to

Replaces

License

Collections

Oral history interviews

Series/Report Number

Funding information

Isbn identifier

Doi identifier

Previously Published Citation

Herman Heine Goldstine, OH 18. Oral history interview by Nancy B. Stern, 11 August 1980, Ohio. Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. http://purl.umn.edu/107333

Suggested citation

Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.