Howard Aiken : portrait of a computer pioneer / I. Bernard Cohen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cohen, I. Bernard, 1914-2003.

Series:

History of computing

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Computer engineers--United States--Biography.

Computer engineers.

Computers--History.

Computers.

Aiken, Howard H. (Howard Hathaway), 1900-1973.

Aiken, Howard H.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xx, 329 p. ) ill. ;

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : MIT Press, 1999.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Howard Hathaway Aiken (1900-1973) was a major figure of the early digital era. He is best known for his first machine, the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator or Harvard Mark I, conceived in 1937 and put into operation in 1944. But he also made significant contributions to the development of applications for the new machines and to the creation of a university curriculum for computer science." "This biography of Aiken, by a major historian of science who was also a colleague of Aiken's at Harvard, offers a clear and often entertaining introduction to Aiken and his times."--Jacket.

Contents:

The Names "ASCC" and "Mark I"

Introduction to a Pioneer

Early Life and Education

A Harvard Graduate Student

First Steps Toward a New Type of Calculating Machine

An Unsuccessful Attempt to Get the Machine Built

Seeking Support from IBM

The Proposal for an Automatic Calculating Machine

Aiken's Background in Computing and Knowledge of Babbage's Machines

Planning and Beginning the Construction of the Machine

How to Perform Multiplication and Division by Machine

Construction of the Machine

Installing the ASCC/Mark I in Cambridge and Transferring It to the Navy

Aiken at the Naval Mine Warfare School

The Dedication

The Aftermath

Some Features of Mark I

Programming and Staffing, Wartime Operation, and the Implosion Computations

The Mystery of the Number 23

Tables of Bessel Functions

Aiken's Harvard Program in Computer Science

Later Relations between Aiken and IBM

Aiken at Harvard, 1945-1961

Life in the Comp Lab

Retirement from Harvard

Businessman and Consultant

A Summing Up

Appendixes

The Harvard News Release

Aiken's Talk at the Dedication

Aiken's Memorandum Describing the Harvard Computation Laboratory

The Stored Program and the Binary Number System

Aiken's Three Later Machines

How Many Computers Are Needed?

The NSF Computer Tree

Who Invented the Computer? Was Mark I a Computer?

The Harvard Computation Laboratory during the 1950's.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.

ISBN:

0-262-27053-6

0-585-07799-1

OCLC:

44962601