Oral history interview with Friedrich L. Bauer

Abstract

Bauer briefly reviews his early life and education in Bavaria through his years in the German army during World War II. He discusses his education in mathematics and theoretical physics at the University of Munich through the completion of his Ph.D. in 1952. He explains how he first came in contact with work on modern computers through a seminar in graduate school and how he and Klaus Samelson were led to join the PERM group in 1952. Work on the hardware design and on compilers is mentioned. Bauer then discusses the origins and design of the logic computer STANISLAUS, and his role in its development. The next section of the interview describes the European side of the development of ALGOL, including his work and that of Rutishauser, Samelson, and Bottenbrach. The interview concludes with a brief discussion of Bauer's work in numerical analysis in the 1950s and 1960s and his subsequent investigations of programming methodology.