Browsing by Subject "Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Oral history interview with Carl Hammer
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1983-04-15) Hammer, Carl, 1914-2004
    Hammer reviews his career in the computing industry, including his work for RCA, Sperry, and Sylvania. He begins with his entry into data processing at the Columbia University T. J. Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory and his work under Paul Lazarsfeld as a research associate at the Bureau of Applied Social Research. He turns next to his employment beginning in l950 at the Franklin Institute. He discusses the industrial applications of computers, and collaborations between the Franklin Institute and the government. From 1955 through 1957 Hammer headed the European Univac Computing Center. He discusses interactions with U.S. computer professionals, the peculiarities of installing computers in Europe, and the differing effect of computers on institutions in Europe and the U.S. He reviews Sperry's merger with Remington Rand and the changes in marketing and other operations after the merger. He cites these changes as his reason for leaving Sperry to work for Sylvania on his return from Europe in 1957. Sylvania's MOBIDIC computer and the ballistic missile early warning system are described in detail. In 1959 Hammer joined the Surface Communication Division of RCA. He discusses the in-fighting at RCA after John L. Hammer became president in 1960, the resulting demise of RCA's computer operations, and his own return to Univac in 1962.
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    Oral history interview with Joseph F. Traub
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1984-04-05) Traub, J. F. (Joseph Frederick), 1932-
    The interview ranges from Traub's upbringing and early education to his first full-time job at Bell Laboratories, but the bulk of the interview concerns his graduate education at Columbia University and his work at the Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory. Traub devotes the first part of the interview to his family's escape from Germany in 1938, his education in New York City Public Schools, and his college education at C.U.N.Y. He then turns to his graduate education at Columbia University. In 1955 he became involved with computing at the Watson Computing Laboratory. He discusses the work environment at the Watson Laboratory in the mid-1950s and his own research on an IBM 650 after he became a Watson Fellow in 1957. Some Columbia faculty and Watson Lab personnel are mentioned, in particular, Wallace Eckert and L.H. Thomas. In 1959 Traub was hired by Bell Laboratories. He concludes the interview discussing the environment there and his work on optimal iteration theory.
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    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.
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    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.
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    Oral history interview with Martin Schwarzschild
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1986-11-18) Schwarzschild, Martin
    Schwarzschild describes his early training in automatic computing when he assumed the position of director of the Watson Scientific Computation Laboratory at Columbia University upon the resignation of Wallace Eckert. Schwarzschild describes the computational research he did there on stellar models using advanced IBM tabulating equipment. He next turns to his experience during world war II at Aberdeen Proving Grounds as an enlisted member of the army working on bomb blasts, and mentions work of R. H. Kent, L. Dederick, IBM personnel, John von Neumann, and other scientific consultants on the design of new automatic calculating equipment for the laboratories. Schwarzschild answers questions about the relationship between Kent and von Neumann. His final topic is the work during the 1950s he undertook on stellar interiors using the Institute for Advanced Study computer. He describes his experiences trying to use the computer for large scientific purposes, and recalls the reception of his computational research by the professional astronomy journals.