John Vincent Atanasoff Collection, 1941-[ongoing]

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John Vincent Atanasoff Collection, 1941-[ongoing]

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/76877117

John Vincent Atanasoff received his M.S. (1926) in Mathematics from Iowa State College (University) and received his Ph.D. (1930) in theoretical physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He returned to Iowa State in 1930 as Assistant Professor in mathematics and physics and was promoted to Associate Professor (1936). Atanasoff began developing concepts for an electronic computing machine in 1937. It was shortly thereafter that he, along with graduate student Clifford Berry, started work on the world's first electronic digital computer. The computer would later be named the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC). Work on the machine stopped at the start of World War II in 1941 and the ABC was never patented. Atanasoff and Berry were both called to support the war effort and left Iowa State. By the end of the decade, the ABC was removed from the basement of Physics Hall and dismantled. Atanasoff and the ABC were part of a major court case between Honeywell, Inc and Sperry Rand Corporation which occurred 1967-1973. The case involved the ENIAC patent which covered basic ownership rights to the design of electronic digital computers. During the trial, the judge concluded that the invention of the ENIAC was derived from the work of John Vincent Atanasoff at Iowa State University. A replica of the Atanasoff-Berry Computer was completed and unveiled to the public in 1996. The ABC replica was constructed by a team of Iowa State scientists at the Ames Laboratory and was exhibited at museums throughout the country over the next several years.

6.46 linear ft. (3 records center cartons, 3 document boxes, 1 half-document box, and 1 oversized box)

Iowa State University, Parks Library

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 8179437

Iowa State University, Parks Library

Related Entities

There are 5 Entities related to this resource.

Illinois Scientific Developments, Inc.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6j7495p (corporateBody)

Atanasoff, John V. (John Vincent)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64q8xcf (person)

Inventor of the Atanasoff-Berry Computer. From the description of Oral history interview with John V. Atanasoff, 1985 March 19. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 62685206 Inventor of the first electronic digital computer. J.V. Atanasoff was born in Hamilton, New York in 1903, and graduated from the University of Florida in 1925 with a B.S. in electrical engineering. He began graduate studies in mathematics at Iowa State College in 1925....

Sperry Rand Corporation

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rz38hg (corporateBody)

There are two epochs in the history of computing: before the completion of the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (known as the ENIAC), and after. While there are several controversies about the development of the ENIAC and its immediate successors, there is nearly universal agreement on three points: the ENIAC was the watershed project which convinced the world that electronic computing was not merely possible, but practicable; it was a masterpiece of electrical engineeri...

Berry, Clifford Edward, 1918-1963

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r22fh6 (person)

Iowa State University. University Relations.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dz72rj (corporateBody)

This collection includes material collected and produced by the Iowa State University Office of University Relations regarding John Vincent Atanasoff and the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC). The bulk of the material relates to the University-sponsored celebrations in honor of Atanasoff, the ABC replica project, and the ongoing effort to assert Atanasoff as the true inventor of the electronic digital computer. The collection contains biographical information, correspondence with Atanasoff and the ...