mbd@BRL.ARPA (VLD/GSB) (08/01/88)
Ref: "...the ENIAC was basically operated by Navy women..."
"...That is where Grace Hopper and Betty Holberton got their starts..."
As I write this from the area where the ENIAC stood (from 1947-1955),
I must advise, to the best of my knowledge, that NAVY people (men or women),
had nothing to do with the ARMY Ballistic Research Laboratory's ENIAC.
It was an ARMY system originally designed to compute the firing table
trajectories for ARMY artillery systems. The goal was to have the computation
time to be less than the actual flight time of the projectile. Adm. Hopper was
never, to the best of my knowledge, involved with the ENIAC as that computer
preceded the computer with which she was associated.
If you send me via E-mail a mailing address, I will be happy to furnish
a nice article that summarizes the early days of the ENIAC at BRL. One of the
women seen in the pictures you refer to is Mrs. Marion Schlegel who currently
resides in Aberdeen, Md. The fellow seen with her is Joe Hurff who is still
an employee here at the Ballistic Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground,
MD (home of the ENIAC).
Sincerely,
Mike Danish