Browsing by Subject "EDVAC (Computer)"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    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.
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    Oral history interview with Carl Chambers
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1977-11-30) Chambers, Carl
    Chambers discusses the initiation and progress of the ENIAC project at the University of Pennsylvania Moore School of Electrical Engineering. He recalls the conditions under which John Mauchly, one of the ENIAC designers, came to the Moore School in 1941, Mauchly's 1943 proposal to the Army for a computer project, the National Defense Research Committee's initial denial of funds because of its commitment to analog computing, and the start of the ENIAC project six months later. Chambers describes the interactions among the ENIAC staff, and focuses on the personalities and working relationships of Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert. He recounts their conflicts with project director John Grist Brainerd, and the commercial interests they first envisioned in 1944. Chambers discusses John von Neumann's involvement from 1944 in the EDVAC project, the financial strains that accompanied this project, and the patent disagreement that led Eckert and Mauchly to resign from the faculty. He concludes with his views on the importance of the 1946 Moore School summer course, "Theory and techniques for design of electronic digital computers," now known as the "Moore School Lectures" in disseminating computer technology.
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    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.
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    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, James
    The 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.
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    Oral history interview with S. Reid Warren
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1977-10-05) Warren, S. Reid (Samuel Reid), 1908-
    Warren was a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania Moore School of Electrical Engineering and served as supervisor of the EDVAC project. He discusses the EDVAC, the personal interactions of the project members, and the effect of the project on the Moore School. Central to his discussion are J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly and their disagreements with administrators over patent rights, which led to their resignation and the founding of their own company. Warren discusses John von Neumann, the distribution of his 1945 draft report on the EDVAC, and its lack of proper acknowledgment of all the EDVAC contributors. He also discusses the University's patent policy, its effect on the project, and the inability of the Moore School to remain at the forefront of computer developments.
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    Oral history interview with Uta C. Merzbach
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1980-09-15) Merzbach, Uta C., 1933-
    Merzbach provides a brief overview of the history of electronic computing. She begins with the early projects in the 1940s that grew out of the need for advanced military technology, such as the ENIAC, the EDVAC, the Institute for Advanced Study computer, and the Whirlwind computer. She touches on the transition from military to commercial computers, with the UNIVAC of Eckert and Mauchly and International Business Machine's 650 and 700 series. She discusses early memory systems (mercury delay line, Williams electrostatic storage tube, Selectron tube, and magnetic drum) and how they were all superseded by the magnetic core in the 1950s. Merzbach also cites the development of FORTRAN, the first high-level programming language.