Oral history interview with Herman Heine Goldstine, 1980 Aug. 11.

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Oral history interview with Herman Heine Goldstine, 1980 Aug. 11.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/63306912

Goldstine discusses his role in the project. He describes the acquisition of funding fron the Office of Naval Research, the hiring of staff, and his relationship with John von Neumann. Goldstine explains that von Neumann was responsible for convincing the Institute to sponsor the computer project and praises von Neumann's contributions, among which he counts the first logical design of a computer and the concept of stored programming. Goldstine next turns to relations between the project and one of its funders, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). He points out the conflict of interest of IAS director J. Robert Oppenheimer, who chaired the AEC General Advisory Committee, and von Neumann, who sat on this committee, when other AEC officials discontinued funding for the project. Goldstine also recounts the problems that arose during the project over patent rights and their resolution. He concludes by discussing the many visitors to the project and the many computers (Whirlwind, ILLIAC, JOHNNIAC, IBM 701) modeled after the IAS computer.

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University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

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SNAC Resource ID: 7886035

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Related Entities

There are 7 Entities related to this resource.

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967

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J. Robert Oppenheimer: Physicist (quantum theory and nuclear physics). On the physics faculty at California Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley in theoretical physics, 1929-1947; director of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, 1943-1945; chairman of the General Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission, 1946-1952; director of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, 1947-1966....

Goldstine, Herman H. (Herman Heine), 1913-2004

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Herman Heine Goldstine was a professor of mathematics (University of Chicago, 1936-1939; University of Michigan, 1939-1950) and was involved in the early development of the computer during World War II and the 1950s. He continued to publish on the history of these subjects. He has held many administrative positions in scientific research with International Business Machines Corporation, namely, Director of Mathematical Sciences, Research (1958-1960); Director of Scientific Development, IBM Resea...

Institute for advanced study Princeton, N.J.

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United States. Office of Naval Research

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The original "Survey of large-scale computers and computer projects" was published by the Office of Naval Research in 1947 and 1948. It was revised and updated in 1950 under the title, HIGH-SPEED COMPUTING DEVICES (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1950). This work was contracted out to the Minneapolis, Minn., firm of Engineering Research Associates and was an attempt to survey the state of computer technology at a time when the Navy was weighing the possibility of supporting the development of the electro...

Von Neumann, John, 1903-1957

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6v69kqh (person)

John (Johann) Louis von Neumann (1903-1957) was born in Budapest and showed early signs of being a child prodigy. He entered the University of Budapest in 1921, but also attended the University of Berlin and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology before obtaining a degree in chemical engineering in 1925. He earned his Doctorate in Mathematics from the University of Budapest in 1927. After graduation, he worked at the University of Berlin before becoming a visiting professor to Princeton from ...

Stern, Nancy B.

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U.S. Atomic Energy Commission

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This collection of transparencies was used by representatives of the Atomic Energy Commission (A.E.C.) during a presentation before the Alaska House State Affairs Committee, April 4, 1970, in Juneau. At the time of the presentation, the A.E.C. was planning a second underground nuclear test on Amchitka Island in 1971, code-named CANNIKIN. Testimony was heard from several groups against a second test as well as adverse testimony about the first test which took place in October, 1969 and was code n...