John Presper Eckert

Although todays subject is American engineer and inventor John Presper Eckert (April 9, 1919 June 3, 1995 , the story is more about the invention o! the "!irst# computer$ %art o! the controversy over &ho !irst built a computer depends upon the de!inition o! "computer# is used$ 'laise %ascal and (ott!ried )eibni* invented mechanical calculating machines during the 1+th century$ ,harles 'abbage is generally credited &ith having conceived the !irst digital computer$ -is Analytical Engine &as a mechanical device designed to combine basic arithmetic operations &ith decisions based on its o&n computations$ .n!ortunately, he &as unable to complete the engine he envisioned$ /n 1930 Alan 1uring proposed the idea o! a machine capable o! processing e2uations &ithout human involvement$ At the beginning o! 1933, &hile &or4ing on brea4ing the (ermans secret Enigma Code, 1uring and other cryptographers constructed an electronic machine, the Colossus, to decode the (erman cipher$ 5ne might ma4e a claim !or ,olossus as the earliest &or4ing programmable electronic computer, even though it &as a special purpose instrument, suitable only !or a limited number o! tas4s$

J$ %resper 6c4ert &as born in %hiladelphia, the only son o! a prominent real estate developer$ At the 7illiam %enn ,harter 8chool, he &as recogni*ed !or his e9ceptional mathematical abilities and his electronic ingenuity$ /n 193+ 6c4ert entered the :oore 8chool o! 6lectrical 6ngineering at the .niversity o! %ennsylvania, &here he received a '$8$ and :$8$ in electrical engineering$ -e &as such an engineering genius that he &as given a post teaching electronics at the school soon a!ter his graduation$ At this time the :oore 8chool &as deeply involved in research to aid the &ar e!!orts$ John 7illiam :auchly &as one o! 6c4erts students in a training course in electronics$ 1he !ormer held a doctorate in physics !rom John -op4ins .niversity$ :auchly accepted a position as an instructor at the

:oore 8chool, &here he and 6c4ert became close !riends and spent many hours discussing their mutual interest in designing and constructing computers$

1he :oore 8chool did research using early !orms o! computers, including a Bush differential analyzer, designed by ;annevar 'ush and his colleagues at :/1$ 1he machine &as a general<purpose analog computer, driven by electric motors, &hich &as used to solve problems involving di!!erential e2uations$ ,opies o! the analy*er &ere &idely employed in the &ar e!!ort, especially in creating !iring and bombing tables$ 1he analy*er consisted o! replaceable sha!ts, gears, &heels, handles, electric motors, and dis4s= and it re2uired much manual &or4 to set it up$ 6c4ert and :auchly had ideas on ho& to construct a better computer$ 7hen their proposal !or the design o! a computer resulted in a >3??,??? contract !rom the Army, they collaborated on the construction o! the Electronic Integrator and Computer (ENIAC , a general<purpose computer$

,ompleted in @ebruary 1930, the ENIAC contained some 1A,??? vacuum tubes and measured about A !eet in height and A? !eet in length$ /t &as more than 1??? times !aster than its electromechanical predecessors and could per!orm up to 5,??? additions per second$ Although the &ar &as over by the time the ENIAC &as operational, John von Beumann used it &hile &or4ing on top<secret problems associated &ith the development o! nuclear &eapons$ 7hen the .niversity o! %ennsylvania as4ed 6c4ert and :auchly to sign over the ENIAC patent, they re!used and in 5ctober 1930 le!t to !orm their o&n computer company$ 1hey received an order !rom Borthrop Aircra!t ,ompany to build the Binary Automatic Computer (BINAC $ 1he Bational 'ureau o! 8tandards contracted &ith them to build the Universal Automatic Computer (UNIVAC , the !irst computer produced !or commercial use in the .nited 8tates$

/n 195? Cemington Cand ,orporation ac2uired the 6c4ert<:auchly ,omputer ,orporation and the

rights to the ENIAC patent$ 6c4ert remained &ith the !irm and became an e9ecutive o! the corporation &hen it merged &ith the 'urroughs ,orporation to become .nisys$ :auchly le!t the company to !orm :auchly Associates o! &hich he &as president !rom 1959 to 1905, &hen he became chairman o! the board$ /n 1900 6c4ert and :auchly shared the -arry :$ (oode :emorial A&ard given by the ,omputer 8ociety !or their "pioneering contributions to automatic computing by participating in the design and construction o! the ENIAC, the &orlds !irst all<electronic computer, and o! the BINAC and the UNIVAC D# :auchly !elt it &as a shame that he &as best 4no&n !or the invention o! a computer &hen he had also invented the s4ateboard, &hich he considered an e2ually revolutionary tool$ :auchly died in Ambler, %ennsylvania at age +E$ 6c4ert died o! complications relating to leu4emia in 'ryn :a&r, %ennsylvania at age +0$

6c4ert and :auchlys story is incomplete &ithout mentioning the Atanaso!! controversy over priority and purported "piracy$# /n the mid 193?s /o&a 8tate mathematician and physicist John ;incent Atanaso!! concluded that the computational devices e9isting at the time &ere too slo& and inaccurate !or his purposes$ 7ith the assistance o! his graduate student ,li!!ord 'erry, Atanaso!! designed and constructed the Atanasoff Berry Computer (ABC in 1939$ ,ompared to todays computers it &as slo& and had a miniscule memory$ /t &as the !irst data processing machine to employ ideas such as the binary system, separate memory and computing !unctions, internal cloc4 control, and the use o! circuits !or logical addition and subtraction$ 'ecause o! &artime demands, Atanaso!! &as never able to get a patent !or his invention$ /t &as stored in the basement o! the physics building and cannibali*ed !or parts !or other projects &ithout Atanaso!!s 4no&ledge$

/n 193? Atanaso!! met :auchly, described his computer, and un&isely agreed to sho& it to his ne& ac2uaintance$ :auchly spent several days at Atanaso!!s home &here the inventor e9tensively brie!ed his guest about the computer and demonstrated it !or his visitor$ -e even allo&ed :auchly to leave

&ith papers describing its design$ :any o! Atanaso!!s ideas &ere used in the design o! ENIAC, leading to charges o! piracy to be leveled against :auchly$ A long trial ensued and !inally on 5ctober 19, 19+3 Atanaso!! &as given the recognition and credit he deserved$ /n his ruling @ederal Judge 6arl C$ )arson speci!ied that "6c4ert and :auchly did not themselves !irst invent the automatic electronic computer, but instead derived that subject matter !rom Fr$ John ;incent Atanaso!!$# 1he judge declared the ENIAC patent o! 6c4ert and :auchly to be invalid$ 1he duo disputed the !inding throughout their lives$ /n 199? %resident (eorge -$ 'ush ac4no&ledged Atanaso!!s pioneering &or4 in computers by a&arding him the Bational :edal o! 1echnology$

Quotation of the DayG / have al&ays ta4en the position that there is enough credit !or everyone in
the invention and development o! the electronic computer$# John ;$ Atanaso!!