Oral history interview with John W. Backus, 1984 Jan. 3.

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Oral history interview with John W. Backus, 1984 Jan. 3.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/62423702

Backus begins by recalling how he became interested in mathematics. He recalls his initial work for IBM on the SSEC. He describes the cathode ray tube storage system on the IBM 701 and his work on an interpretive system to make programming easier. Backus recalls the design process for the IBM 704 and his and Gene Amdahl's work to make the 704 a floating point machine to allow the machine to run faster. He discusses the design, implementation, and optimization of FORTRAN. Backus concludes with an overview of other languages used on IBM systems and a description of recent advances that permit optimization of programming.

1 videocassette (VHS) (120 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in.

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

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SNAC Resource ID: 7813492

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

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International Business Machines Corporation

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6330m1p (corporateBody)

International Business Machines Corporation was incorporated in New York State on June 16, 1911 under the name Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. In 1922, Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co. purchased all of the shares of Deutsche Hollerith Maschinen Gesellschaft. In 1924 the official name of the company was changed to International Business Machines Corporation. In 1933, IBM CEO Thomas Watson ordered the merger of IBM subsidiaries in Germany (Optima, Degemag, Holgemag, Dehomag) under the name De...

Backus, John W., 1924-2007

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6w66qzg (person)

Computer scientist. From the description of John W. Backus papers, 1951-2001 (bulk 1953-1991). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70984761 Developer of FORTRAN computer programming language. From the description of Oral history interview with John W. Backus, 1984 Jan. 3. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62423702 Biographical Note 1924, Dec. 3 ...

Pioneers of Science and Technology Video Tape Project.

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Larson, Charles M.

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