Browsing by Subject "Computers -- History"
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Item Oral history interview with Alexandra Forsythe(Charles Babbage Institute, 1979-05-16) Forsythe, Alexandra I.Forsythe discusses the career of her husband, George Forsythe, from the time of his Ph.D. in 1941. He studied meteorology at UCLA in preparation for a military commission. After the war he taught meteorology at UCLA, where he became involved with the National Bureau of Standards Western Automatic Computer (SWAC). In 1957, when the National Bureau of Standards closed its operation at UCLA, George accepted a position at Stanford University to establish its program in computer science. Forsythe recalls some of her husband's difficulties in securing funding for computer projects, the resistance he encountered in his attempts to sell computer time to the private sector, and his eventual success in establishing a well-funded program in 1965.Item Oral history interview with Alice R. Burks and Arthur W. Burks(Charles Babbage Institute, 1980-06-20) Burks, Arthur W. (Arthur Walter), 1915-; Burks, Alice R., 1920-Arthur Burks describes his work on the ENIAC and Institute for Advanced Study computers. He reviews his upbringing, education, and work experiences (mainly teaching) before joining the University of Pennsylvania Moore School of Electrical Engineering in 1941. He then discusses his associations with J. Presper Eckert, John Mauchly, John Brainerd, Herman Goldstine, and others and their work at the Moore School. Various aspects of the ENIAC project are discussed in detail: interactions of project members, division of tasks, decision making processes, patenting issues, initial operation, and von Neumann's association with the Moore School and the ENIAC and EDVAC projects. There is a general discussion concerning the classification of general versus special purpose computers and computers versus calculators. Patenting issues concerning the ENIAC project are given particular attention. The Burks discuss the dispersion of ENIAC and EDVAC personnel at the end of World War II. Burks recounts his move to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, his experiences there, and his consulting work with Burroughs prior to accepting a faculty position at the University of Michigan.Item Oral history interview with Arthur W. Burks(Charles Babbage Institute, 1987-06-23) Burks, Arthur W. (Arthur Walter), 1915-Burks describes John von Neumann's contribution to the development of computers. In this context Burks discusses the ENIAC, the work of the Moore School of Electrical Engineering, and the development of a computer at the Institute for Advanced Study.Item Oral history interview with Cuthbert Corwin Hurd(Charles Babbage Institute, 1981-01-20) Hurd, Cuthbert Corwin, 1911-Hurd discusses International Business Machines' (IBM) commitment to research in computer technology, IBM's support for academic research on computers, and his own work at IBM--especially on the IBM 701, 704 and 705 computers. He also describes John von Neumann and his contributions to the development of computer technology.Item Oral history interview with Donald L. Bitzer(Charles Babbage Institute, 1988-02-19) Bitzer, Donald LesterBitzer discusses his relationship with Control Data Corporation (CDC) during the development of PLATO, a computer-assisted instruction system. He describes the interest in PLATO of Harold Brooks, a CDC salesman and his help in procuring a 1604 computer for Bitzer's use. Bitzer recalls the commercialization of PLATO by CDC and his disagreements with CDC over marketing strategy and the creation of courseware for PLATO.Item Oral history interview with J. Presper Eckert(Charles Babbage Institute, 1977-10-28) Eckert, J. Presper (John Presper), 1919-Eckert, a co-inventor of the ENIAC, discusses its development at the University of Pennsylvania and the interaction of the personnel at the Moore School. He describes the difficulty in securing patent rights for the ENIAC and the problems posed by John G. Brainerd, the first director of the project, and by the circulation of John von Neumann's 1945 First Draft of the Report on EDVAC, which placed the ENIAC inventions in the public domain. Eckert claims that von Neumann had an interest in keeping these ideas from becoming patented, and deaccentuates von Neumann's role in the development of the EDVAC. Eckert also discusses the ethical questions that were raised by the corporate funding of the University of Pennsylvania's computer research, and relates the reasons leading to his and John Mauchly's resignation from the faculty.Item Oral history interview with J. Presper Eckert, Kathleen Mauchly, William Cleaver, and James McNulty(Charles Babbage Institute, 1980-01-23) Cleaver, William; Eckert, J. Presper (John Presper), 1919-; Mauchly, Kathleen; McNulty, JamesThe interviewees describe their experiences at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering in the 1940s. Eckert outlines disputes he and John Mauchly had with the University administration over the assignment of patent rights to the ENIAC, and disputes over other issues with John G. Brainerd, the first director of the ENIAC project. Eckert and McNulty share their views on John von Neumann's influence on the ENIAC and EDVAC projects. The group discusses the Honeywell vs. Sperry Rand litigation and the judgement against Eckert and Mauchly's patent claim to the electronic digital computer. They uniformly dispute the court's finding in favor of John V. Atanasoff's contribution. Other topics include: the use of the ENIAC in atomic bomb tests, and the programming and memory systems of the ENIAC, EDVAC, and UNIVAC.Item Oral history interview with Stephen W. Dunwell(Charles Babbage Institute, 1989-02-13) Dunwell, Steve, 1913-1994Dunwell describes the development of data processing equipment at International Business Machines in the mid-twentieth century. He discusses early data processing and cryptanalytic equipment before focusing on the development of computers following World War II. In this context, he describes IBM's Poughkeepsie Laboratory, John von Neumann's contributions as an IBM consultant, and the IBM 701 and STRETCH (7030) computers.