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Browsing by Subject "ENIAC (Computer)"

Now showing 1 - 12 of 12
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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 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.
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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 Ethel C. Marden
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1983-04-20) Marden, Ethel C.
    Marden discusses the early use of computers by the U.S. government as seen from the National Bureau of Standards, where she was employed following World War II. She discusses the results of the construction of the Standards Eastern Automatic Computer (SEAC) and points to the prominent role in its design of people who had worked on ENIAC. Marden describes the enthusiasm and work environment of the SEAC project, including accommodations for women to hold professional positions at the same time they were raising families. She points to the success of SEAC as measured by the many government offices that used it. She describes the interactions of NBS with other government agencies and other major computer projects, and describes how NBS recruited talented personnel.
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    Oral history interview with Frances E. Holberton
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1983-04-14) Holberton, Frances E.
    Holberton discusses her education from 1940 through the 1960s and her experiences in the computing field. These include work with the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, David Taylor Model Basin, and the National Bureau of Standards. She discusses her perceptions of cooperation and competition between members of these organizations and the difficulties she encountered as a woman. She recounts her work on ENIAC and LARC, her design of operating systems, and her applications programming.
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    Oral history interview with Irven A. Travis
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1977-10-21) Travis, Irven A., 1904-
    Travis gives his recollections of the ENIAC project at the University of Pennsylvania. He begins with his employment at RCA, where he was before moving to the University of Pennsylvania Moore School of Electrical Engineering in 1931. He describes his early work in analog computing: hearing about Vannevar Bush's differential analyzer at MIT and "borrowing" Bush's draftsman to build a differential analyzer at the Moore School for Aberdeen Proving Ground; direction of anti-aircraft fire control research at the Bureau of Ordnance; and membership as a Navy officer during World Word II on a National Defense Research Council task force on fire control at the Moore School. Travis then turns to his interest in digital computing, beginning with visits from John Mauchly at Ursinus College. He describes the ENIAC project, the technical and leadership abilities of chief engineer J. Presper Eckert, the working relations between Mauchly and Eckert, the disputes over patent rights, and their resignation from the university.
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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 John William Mauchly
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1973-11-13) Mauchly, John W. (John William), 1907-1980
    Address given at Sperry Univac's 1973 Point of View meeting in Rome. Mauchly discusses his early use of computers at Ursinus College in weather prediction and his determination that calculators using vacuum tubes to function at much higher speeds were feasible. He recounts his move to the Moore School of Electrical Engineering and his failure to interest anyone other than J. Presper Eckert in his research. He explains how they were able to obtain funding to build the ENIAC, the first electronic digital calculator, only after proposing its use for ballistic calculations. Finally, he describes the funding of the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation UNIVAC computer by the National Bureau of Standards.
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    Oral history interview with Nicholas C. Metropolis
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1987-05-29) Metropolis, N. (Nicholas), 1915-
    Metropolis, the first director of computing services at Los Alamos National Laboratory, discusses John von Neumann's work in computing. Most of the interview concerns activity at Los Alamos: how von Neumann came to consult at the laboratory; his scientific contacts there, including Metropolis, Robert Richtmyer, and Edward Teller; von Neumann's first hands-on experience with punched card equipment; his contributions to shock-fitting and the implosion problem; interactions between, and comparisons of von Neumann and Enrico Fermi; and the development of Monte Carlo techniques. Other topics include: the relationship between Turing and von Neumann; work on numerical methods for non-linear problems; and the ENIAC calculations done for Los Alamos.
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    Oral history interview with Thomas Parke Hughes
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1980-11-06) Hughes, Thomas Parke
    This interview consists of two parts: in the first part Hughes provides a characterization of the process and impact of invention; and in the second part he outlines the development of the computer. Using the example of Thomas Edison, Hughes comments on invention as a response to need. He discusses the different ways in which research laboratories have been organized, depending on their relationships with businesses and the educational backgrounds of their personnel. These remarks lead Hughes to his overview of the invention of the first electronic digital calculator, the ENIAC, at the University of Pennsylvania during World War II.
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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.