Browsing by Subject "Computer science -- Study and teaching (Higher)"
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Item Oral history interview with Antonín Svoboda(Charles Babbage Institute, 1979-11-15) Svoboda, AntonínSvoboda describes his research on computing in Czechoslovakia, France, and the United States. He begins by discussing his early career: his electrical engineering education in Prague, the differential analyzer he built for the French during World War II for fire control, and his work in New York for the ABAX Corporation on Bofort anti-aircraft guns. He explains how MIT became interested in his work on linkage computers for aiming guns automatically and describes the two-part linkage computer system he built for them, the OMAR and the Mark 56. On his return to Czechoslovakia in 1948, the Research Institute of Mathematics asked Svoboda to develop computing machines, and funded his visits to major digital computer projects. He recounts visits to Harvard, the Institute for Advanced Study, and the University of Pennsylvania. In 1951 he began work on Czechoslovakia's first (electromechanical) digital computer, the SAPO, and its successful completion despite interference from the Communist government. He also mentions the EPOS computer he built in Czechoslovakia in the early 1960s. Svoboda describes his escape to the U.S. in 1964 and his appointment at UCLA. He concludes by assessing his greatest contributions: the use of graphical and mechanical means to teach logical design, the solution of multiple output optimization, and the Boolean analyzer (a parallel processing unit on Boolean algebra).Item Oral history interview with Bernard A. Galler(Charles Babbage Institute, 1991-08) Galler, Bernard A., 1928-In this wide-ranging interview, Galler describes the development of computer science at the University of Michigan from the 1950s through the 1980s and discusses his own work in computer science. Prominent subjects in Galler's description of his work at Michigan include: his arrival and classes with John Carr, research use of International Business Machines (IBM) and later Amdahl mainframe computers, the establishment of the Statistical Laboratory in the Mathematics Dept., the origin of the computer science curriculum and the Computer Science Dept. in the 1950s, interactions with Massachusetts Institute of Technology and IBM about timesharing in the 1960s, the development of the Michigan Algorithm Decoder, and the founding of the MERIT network. Galler also discusses Michigan's relationship with ARPANET, CSNET, and BITNET. He describes the atmosphere on campus in the 1960s and early 1970s and his various administrative roles at the university. Galler discusses his involvement with the Association for Computing Machinery, the American Federation of Information Processing Societies, the founding of the Charles Babbage Institute, and his work with the Annals of the History of Computing. He describes his consultative work with Israel and his consulting practice in general, his work as an expert witness, and his interaction with the Patent Office on issues surrounding the patenting of software and his role in the establishment of the Software Patent Institute.Item Oral history interview with Carolyn S. Miller(Charles Babbage Institute, 2015-12-01) Miller, Carolyn S.Carolyn S. Miller graduated in 1968 with a degree in mathematics from the University of Kentucky, which had significant computing courses at the time. She took a job at Bell Laboratories military division in Whippany, New Jersey, working on the Safeguard Ballistic Missile Defense System while gaining a master’s degree from Stevens Institute of Technology. When Bell canceled the missile project, she moved with other Whippany staff to Bell Labs in Naperville, Illinois, to work on software for ESS (Electronic Switching System). The interview discusses affirmative action and the women’s movement. She left Bell in 1976 for General Electric and then North Carolina State, where she experienced significant gender differences in teaching introductory computer science. This material is based on work funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation award B2014-07 “Tripling Women’s Participation in Computing (1965-1985).”Item Oral history interview with David J. Wheeler(Charles Babbage Institute, 1987-05-14) Wheeler, David J., 1927-Wheeler, who was a research student at the University Mathematical Laboratory at Cambridge from 1948-51, begins with a discussion of the EDSAC project during his tenure. He compares the research orientation and the programming methods at Cambridge with those at the Institute for Advanced Study. He points out that, while the Cambridge group was motivated to process many smaller projects from the larger university community, the Institute was involved with a smaller number of larger projects. Wheeler mentions some of the projects that were run on the EDSAC, the user-oriented programming methods that developed at the laboratory, and the influence of the EDSAC model on the ILLIAC, the ORDVAC, and the IBM 701. He also discusses the weekly meetings held in conjunction with the National Physical Laboratory, the University of Birmingham, and the Telecommunications Research Establishment. These were attended by visitors from other British institutions as well as from the continent and the United States. Wheeler notes visits by Douglas Hartree (of Cavendish Laboratory), Nelson Blackman (of ONR), Peter Naur, Aad van Wijngarden, Arthur van der Poel, Friedrich L. Bauer, and Louis Couffignal. In the final part of the interview Wheeler discusses his visit to Illinois where he worked on the ILLIAC and taught from September 1951 to September 1953.Item Oral history interview with Edward Feigenbaum(Charles Babbage Institute, 1979-06-12) Feigenbaum, Edward A.Feigenbaum discusses the formation and growth of the Stanford University Computer Science Department and its acquisition of facilities. He recalls how IBM and Control Data Corporation replaced Burroughs as the university's computer vendor because of the need for large-scale computing. He explains his effort as head of the Computation Center to centralize all university computing activities, and the failure of that effort in the l970s with the introduction of minicomputers on campus. Feigenbaum also details the department's financing, including government support (ARPA, National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research), equipment donations from industry (IBM especially), and faculty salaries. Feigenbaum credits George Forsythe for the department's initial success in key areas such as numerical analysis, systems, and artificial intelligence, and hiring talented faculty such as John McCarthy.Item Oral history interview with Gene H. Golub(Charles Babbage Institute, 1979-05-16) Golub, Gene H. (Gene Howard), 1922-Golub discusses his career in computer science at Stanford University. In 1962, after working as a numerical analyst for the Space Technology Center, Golub was hired by George Forsythe for Stanford's new computer science program. Golub describes interactions and tensions between the mathematics department and new computer science faculty. He mentions the resistance Forsythe encountered in his attempts to increase revenues by selling computer time to private industry. Golub describes Forsythe's personality and his performance as an administrator.Item Oral history interview with John Herriot(Charles Babbage Institute, 1979-05-22) Herriot, John George, 1916-This interview is concerned principally with the early years of computing at Stanford University. Herriot begins by discussing his postgraduate education at Brown University in the 1940s and his work experiences prior to joining Stanford in 1946. In 1952 Herriot was appointed the first director of the Stanford Computation Center, using a Card Programmed Calculator and later an IBM 650. He discusses the formation and funding of the Computation Center and its integration with the rest of Stanford. Herriot also discusses the formation and development of the Stanford Computer Science Department, centering on the role of George Forsythe. Affiliations between Stanford and private industry are also mentioned.Item Oral history interview with John R. Rice(Charles Babbage Institute, 1997-10-03) Rice, John RischardOne of four interviews conducted in 1997 by Professor William Aspray concerning the history of the Purdue University Department of Computer Science.Item Oral history interview with Joseph F. Traub(Charles Babbage Institute, 1985-03-29) Traub, J. F. (Joseph Frederick), 1932-The main topic is institutions in computing. Traub begins by discussing why computer science has developed as a discipline at some institutions but not others. Institutions that are highlighted include Stanford, Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania, MIT, and Carnegie-Mellon. Traub discusses his experiences as chairman of the computer science departments at Carnegie-Mellon and later Columbia. Other topics include: industrial and government funding of computer science departments (in particular the role of the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Defense Department); the relationships between academic centers, such as MIT, Stanford, Columbia, and Carnegie-Mellon; and the importance of educational institutions to regional centers of industrial computing. At the end of the interview Traub returns to a topic of his earlier interviews, his experiences at Bell and Watson Laboratories.Item Oral history interview with Joseph F. Traub(Charles Babbage Institute, 1984-10-12) Traub, J. F. (Joseph Frederick), 1932-Traub discusses his academic contributions to computer science and mathematics at Bell Laboratories and at Carnegie-Mellon and Columbia Universities. He describes his work on iterative methods and the publication of his 1964 book, Iterative Methods for the Solution of Equations. He talks about his role in the development of computational complexity, out of an attempt beginning in the mid-1960s to construct a theory of operational algorithms. He also discusses algorithms he has constructed for the solution of linear systems and polynomials.Item Oral history interview with Karen Coates(Charles Babbage Institute, 2015-12-14) Coates, KarenKaren Coates grew up in rural northwest Washington state, then graduated from Mills College (Oakland CA) with a degree in mathematics. She describes lessons learned in running FORTRAN programs at nearby Cal State Hayward, a summer internship at IBM, and then work with UC Berkeley’s Laura Gould that led to computer-science teaching at Mills and at Stanford University. Continuing her computer science education at Northwestern University, she met many Bell Labs women working there on master’s degrees and applied herself for a job at Bell Labs. She began work at Bell Labs Naperville in 1974 as a Member of Technical Staff assigned to 4ESS then moved to the Computation Center and worked on the Bell Laboratories Network, an early packet-switched network. She describes working at Bell’s Murray Hill (NJ) facility with Bjarne Stroustrop, during the time he developed “C with Classes” which evolved into C++. Returning to Naperville/Indian Hills, she took up managerial positions in the networking project and then in switching-system applied research. She relates her experiences with the 1970s women’s movement and the supportive network of women colleagues. She left Bells Labs in 1985 and moved to California, where she worked for a subsidiary of TRW on military intelligence systems; a communications company called Octel; a startup venture; and a health-care enterprise celled Omnicell. She describes subtle transformations in gender discrimination in the 1980s and in Silicon Valley. This material is based on work funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation award B2014-07 “Tripling Women’s Participation in Computing (1965-1985).”Item Oral history interview with Kent Krueger Curtis(Charles Babbage Institute, 1987-11-18) Curtis, Kent K. (Kent Krueger), 1927-1987Curtis discusses his work with the National Science Foundation and the awarding of grants to improve computing facilities and education at universities.Item Oral history interview with Lotfi A. Zadeh(Charles Babbage Institute, 1997-07-17) Zadeh, Lotfi AskerOne of four interviews conducted in 1997 by Professor William Aspray concerning the history of the Purdue University Department of Computer Science.Item Oral history interview with Louis Fein(Charles Babbage Institute, 1984-05-09) Fein, LouisFein discusses his involvement in establishing computer science as an academic discipline. In 1955 he joined Stanford Research Institute (SRI) as a computer consultant and was asked by Frederick Terman and Albert Bowker to design a computation curriculum. He describes the difficulty in establishing computer science's autonomy from engineering programs. Fein also describes his contacts with the University of California - Berkeley, the University of North Carolina, Purdue, and other institutions. He recalls his presentation on computer science departments at the 1962 Munich meeting of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), and how his plans were accepted at many academic institutions throughout the U.S. and Europe. Fein concludes with his views on the future of computer science, which entail a name change to "synnoetics" and a corresponding conceptual redirection to the interaction among intelligent beings, including humans and computers.Item Oral history interview with Marvin L. Stein(Charles Babbage Institute, 1984) Stein, Marvin L.In the first session of the interview, Stein discusses his early career and the formation of the University of Minnesota's computing facilities. After learning basic digital and analog operation during World War II, he obtained a doctorate in mathematics from UCLA. While teaching numerical analysis at UCLA, he also worked on missile simulation at Convair, Inc., in San Diego. After becoming familiar with the ERA 1103 computer Convair purchased from Engineering Research Associates, Stein made frequent consultant visits to ERA headquarters in Minnesota. In 1955, the University of Minnesota hired Stein to introduce their first computer courses and administer ERA's gift of free computer time. He describes early computer applications to crystallography and low-energy electron scattering, and the policy he established for the computer center to make users self-sufficient programmers. Stein reviews the growth of the Computer Center: the acquisition of an ERA 1103 computer with National Science Foundation support, the construction and use of a hybrid computer out of the 1103 and a Reeves Electronic Analog Computer (REAC), and the purchase in 1960 of Control Data 1604 and 1700 computers. In the second session, Stein discusses the formation of Minnesota's program in computer science. He explains the rationale for his 1966 proposal for a graduate program in computer science and for the move in 1969 to a department of computer science independent from mathematics and electrical engineering. Stein reviews the curriculum that was intended to introduce students to a wide variety of applications so that they could introduce computer science into other disciplines. Stein discusses the difficulties in hiring enough qualified faculty members, the relations between the computer center and the computer science department, and the state's attempt to bring all educational computing under the control of the Minnesota Educational Computer Consortium.Item Oral history interview with Molly Lou Reko(Charles Babbage Institute, 2015-11-30) Reko, Molly LouMolly Lou Reko grew up in Amarillo, Texas, and graduated from Colorado College in 1958 with a degree in math, then taught mathematics at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. After taking time to raise children, she attended master’s classes at the University of Minnesota (her husband Al Reko then worked for Control Data in Minnesota) in the early 1970s and became connected to the local Minnesota educational computing network TIES, or Total Information for Educational Systems. Her husband encouraged her, with the background in mathematics and teaching, to apply to Control Data. She went to work on the PLATO multi-media computer project. She describes several PLATO programming languages, learning activities or modules, and educational products. She developed PLATO content for the Control Data Institutes, describing William Norris and his deep enthusiasm for PLATO, then managed a group of two dozen PLATO programmers. She also relates her experience with Control Data’s emphasis on corporate social responsibility, including early hiring of women and minorities, as well as work on CDC microcomputers. She completed a master’s degree in computer design and development at University of St. Thomas. In 1989 Control Data’s PLATO division was sold to The Roach Organization (TRO), then in 1991 she went to work for Northwest Airlines initially doing corporate education with microcomputers then working on worldwide installation of computing resources for Northwest’s Airport of Preference system. She offers assessments of Datamation advertisements from the late 1960s. This material is based on work funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation award B2014-07 “Tripling Women’s Participation in Computing (1965-1985).”Item Oral history interview with Robert M. Fano(Charles Babbage Institute, 1989-04-20) Fano, Robert M.Fano discusses his move to computer science from information theory and his interaction with the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). Topics include: computing research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); the work of J. C. R. Licklider at the Information Processing Techniques Office of ARPA; time-sharing and computer networking research; Project MAC; computer science education; CTSS development; System Development Corporation (SDC); the development of ARPANET; and a comparison of ARPA, National Science Foundation, and Office of Naval Research computer science funding.Item Oral history interview with Samuel D. Conte(Charles Babbage Institute, 1997-10-02) Conte, Samuel Daniel, 1917-One of four interviews conducted in 1997 by Professor William Aspray concerning the history of the Purdue University Department of Computer Science.