Oral history interview with J. Presper Eckert, 1975.

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Oral history interview with J. Presper Eckert, 1975.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/63307028

Eckert briefly describes his education in electrical engineering as preface to his discussion about the design and construction of the ENIAC, EDVAC, and BINAC computers. He describes the evolution of the ENIAC from improvements on a differential analyzer at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering, the Army's need for quick and accurate calculations and its funding of the project. Eckert provides technical information about the early design of the ENIAC and discusses the decision to use vacuum tubes. He outlines criticisms about possible statistical errors and the large number of vacuum tubes the ENIAC used and describes the contribution of the Radio Corporation of America in advice for the use of components, especially vacuum tubes.

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University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

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SNAC Resource ID: 7886052

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Related Entities

There are 6 Entities related to this resource.

Mauchly, John W. (John William), 1907-1980

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xg9wsh (person)

Computer science professor and co-designer of the ENIAC, EDVAC, and UNIVAC computers. From the description of Oral history interview with John W. Mauchly, 1976. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 63288500 Computer science professor and co-designer of the UNIVAC. From the description of Sperry Univac Point of View speech, 1973 Nov. 13. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 63276343 ...

Radio corporation of America

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61g4fxz (corporateBody)

Moore School of Electrical Engineering

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6t76h79 (corporateBody)

The catalyst which advanced electrical engineering and the computer beyond the differential analyzer and to the ENIAC was the demands of the Army during the 1930s and particularly the Second World War. The practical need which the differential analyzer could not solve effectively was the preparation of firing tables and charts which showed how to aim artillery accurately. Too many people and too much time were required to prepare these tables. The federal government was willing to f...

United States. Army

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6km312r (corporateBody)

The United States Army is the largest branch of the United States Armed Forces and performs land-based military operations. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States and is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution, Article 2, Section 2, Clause 1 and United States Code, Title 10, Subtitle B, Chapter 301, Section 3001. As the largest and senior branch of the U.S. military, the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army, which wa...

Evans, Christopher Riche

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gm8sx1 (person)

British computer scientist. From the description of Pioneers of computing, 1975-1976. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 63283010 ...

Eckert, J. Presper (John Presper), 1919-1995

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61j9grq (person)

Moore School of Electrical Engineering personnel in the 1940s. From the description of Oral history interview with J. Presper Eckert, Kathleen Mauchly, James McNulty, and William Cleaver, 1980 Jan. 23. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 63297207 Co-designer of the ENIAC, EDVAC, BINAC, and UNIVAC computers. From the description of Oral history interview with J. Presper Eckert, 1975. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record i...