jmatrow@ncrwic.Wichita.NCR.COM (John Matrow) (05/05/88)
From THE IOWA STATER, May, 1988, p. 3:
"Mollenhoff book gives Atanasoff proper place in computer history"
Who really invented the electronic digital computer? Clark Mollenhoff knows;
most Iowa Staters know. It's John Vincent Atanasoff.
Mollenhoff and most Iowa Staters also know that Atanasoff is not the house-
hold name it should be. Atanasoff invented the electronic digital computer
while he was professor at Iowa State in the late 1930s. His invention make
possible the computer age, the information age and the modern technological
age. His contribution ranks with those of Edison, Wright and Ford.
Despite a federal court decision in 1973 identifiying him as the inventor,
Atanasoff has been a forgotten person in computing history.
Mollenhoff, professor of journalism at Washington and Lee University,
Lexington, Va., and former Pulitzer Prize-winning national reporter for
THE DES MOINES REGISTER, first became involved in the Atanasoff story in
1973 as Washington, D.C., bureau chief for the REGISTER. After attending
a celebration at ISU commemorating the 10th anniversay of the historic
court decision, he decided to correct the historical injustice.
He began writing a book.
That book, ATANASOFF: FORGOTTON FATHER OF THE COMPUTER, has been published
by ISU Press. Public sale will officially commence at a special celebra-
tion for Atanasoff on Saturday, May 7 (Veishea weekend at ISU).
In the book, Mollenhoff offers the complete story of the invention of the
electronic digital computer and the unusual tale of its long-unacknow-
ledged inventor. It also includes the mysterious death of Clifford Berry,
who, as a graduate student, helped Atanasoff build the machine, later
named the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC). Berry died in 1969, shortly
after he had documented creation of the device for a book on computer
history.
Mollenhoff also recounts the six-year court battle between Honeywell Inc.
and Sperry Rand Corp. in which Atanasoff's role in the invention of the
electronic digital computer was rediscovered. As a result of Atanasoff's
testimony and personal records, the court voided a patent on the famous
ENIAC computer and identified Atanasoff as the inventor.
Among the questions Mollenhoff answers in the book are: How did Atanasoff
conceive the first electronic digital computer? How did John Mauchly
acquire the concepts for use in the ENIAC, the first patented computer?
Why was Atanasoff's computer not recognized by his contemporaries? How
did Mauchly become known as the inventor of the electronic computer?
Why was Atanasoff silent for so long?
"Th facts--including the relevance of a 200-mile drive in the night and
presence of Mauchly as a house guest of Atanasoff--constitute a riveting
look at genius, ambition and the birth of the computer age," the
publishers note.
Several events are planned at ISU Veishea Weekend to recognize Atanasoff,
who earned his MS from Iowa State in 1926 and was a physics and mathe-
matics professor here from 1925 to 1939. Mollenhoff and Atanasoff will
hold a book signing at the University Bookstore in the ISU Memorial
Union Friday, May 6, and a press conference will be held Saturday after-
noon, May 7, in the Union to announce public sale of the book. Atanasoff
will be Grand Marshal of the Veishea Parade Saturday morning.
A graduate of Drake University Law School, Mollenhoff won the Pulitzer
Prize for national reporting while working for THE DES MOINES REGISTER
as investigative reporter and Washington, D.C., correspondent, positions
he held for more than 35 years.
The book, which contains more than 50 historic photographs, is avail-
able from ISU Press, 2121 S. State Ave., Ames, Iowa 50010; phone (515)
292-0140. Cost for the hard-bound book is $24.95 plus $1.50 postage
and handling ($2.50 for orders from outside the United States).
MasterCard and Visa are accepted.
--
John Matrow Automation Engineering, NCR E&M Wichita
NCR:654-8851 <J.Matrow@Wichita.NCR.COM>
(316)636-8851 <{ece-csc,hubcap,gould,rtech}!ncrcae!ncrwic!j.matrow>
<{cbosgd,ucsd,pyramid,nosc.ARPA}!ncr-sd!ncrwic!j.matrow>pattis@june.cs.washington.edu (Richard Pattis) (05/07/88)
Arthur & Alice Burks, "The First Electronic Computer: The Atanasoff Story", University of Michigan Press, 1988. Especially intersting given the Burks Mauchly connection. Rich Pattis
sxr@cs.purdue.EDU (Saul Rosen) (05/12/88)
To: jmatrow@ncrwic.Wichita.NCR.COM Subject: Re: Atanasoff: Forgotton Father of the Computer Newsgroups: comp.edu,comp.misc,misc.headlines In-Reply-To: <1071@ncrwic.Wichita.NCR.COM> Organization: Department of Computer Science, Purdue University Cc: Bcc: Most people who study the history of computing consider Eckert and Mauchly to be the inventors of the large-scale electronic digital computer. Atanasoff deserves a great deal of credit for what he did, but his effort to build a very special purpose electronic computer was not successful, and he and Berry abandoned the effort at the beginning of World War II. The ENIAC patent claims were too broad, and the judge would not allow them, but he did rule that Eckert and Mauchly were the inventors of the ENIAC. The ENIAC was the first successful attempt to build a large electronic computer, and it succeeded on a really grand scale. Atanasoff deserves some credit and glory, but not nearly as much as some people want to give him. He deserves a long footnote in the history of computing, mostly because he knewand encouraged Mauchly.