John Presper Eckert and the ENIAC Computer
John Presper Eckert, Jr., co-inventor of the first general-purpose electronic digital computer (ENIAC)
Profile of Dr. J. Presper Eckert, Jr.
John Adam Presper “Pres” Eckert Jr. (April 9, 1919, Philadephia, Pennsylvania – June 3, 1995, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) was an American electrical engineer and computer pioneer. With John Mauchly, he invented the first general-purpose electronic digital computer (ENIAC) and presented the first course in computing topics (the Moore School Lectures, founded the first commercial computer company, the Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation, and designed the first commercial computer in the United States, the UNIVAC, incorporating Eckert’s invention of the mercury delay line memory.
Invention of the ENIAC
Dr. John Mauchly, chairman of the physics department of nearby Ursinus College that time, was a student in the summer electronics course. The following fall, he secured a teaching position at the Moore School. Mauchly proposed for building an electronic digital computer using vacuum tubes, many times faster and more accurate than the differential analyzer for computing ballistics tables for artillery. His proposal caught the interest of Lt. Herman Goldstine, the Moore School’s Army liaison. On April 9, 1943, it was formally presented in a meeting to director Colonel Leslie Simon, and others in the group. A contract was awarded for Moore School’s construction of the proposed computing machine, which would be named ENIAC. Eckert was made the project’s chief engineer. In late 1945, ENIAC was completed, and in February, 1946, it was unveiled to the public.
Legacy of Inventor J. Presper Eckert and the ENIAC Computer
As a pioneer of the computer, Eckert established the beginning of the modern age of computing. With John Mauchly, at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, they collaborated on the design and construction of ENIAC, an electronic computing machine on a large scale. ENIAC’s initials mean Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, thus changing the history of the computing world.
Prior Eckert, the making of the ENIAC was the culmination of earlier efforts, ideas from electro-mechanical computing machines, and translated them into electronic terms. Eckert, in setting up his plans and the program, proposed to replace three different kinds of memory, function tables or read-only memory, and other interconnecting cables with their associated switches. The three kinds of memory was replaced by a single erasable high speed memory.
Together, Eckert and Mauchly continued to improve their computers , including UNIVAC I, which became one of the first computers to be sold commercially in 1951.
Eckert himself had more than 85 patents for his electronic inventions. He retired in 1989.
Sources:
- Chambers Biographical Dictionary, Ninth Edition. London: Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2011.
- Wilkes, Maurice V. “A Tribute to Presper Eckert”. Communications of the ACM; Sep95, Vol. 38 Issue 9, p20-22, 3p. Note: This article pays tribute to J. Presper Eckert, co-inventor of the first electronic digital computer in 1946, who died on June 3, 1995, aged 76.
Photo Credit:
J. Presper Eckert, “Minds Behind ENIAC”. http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/birth-of-the-computer/4/80
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John Philip Holland – Father of Modern Submarine
John Philip Holland, Irish Engineer.
Designed/developed the first underwater vessel, the submarine.
Irish Engineer John Philip Holland.
John Philip Holland (29 February 1840 – 12 August 1914), was an Irish engineer who designed and built the first submarine formally commissioned by the U.S. Navy, and the first Royal Navy submarine, the Holland 1.
He was a school teacher in Ireland, his country of birth but in 1873, emigrated in New Jersey, USA. In 1875, he offered a submarine design to the US navy but it was rejected as not practicable, despite this rejection, he continued his experiments. Significantly, it was in 1898 that when he launched his Holland VI that he successfully demonstrated his invention under the Potomac River. It had almost all the features of a modern non-nuclear submarine when submerged. Finally, it convinced the navies not only of the US but of the world that the submarine must be taken seriously as a powerful weapon.
John Philip Holland is hailed as the “father of modern submarine.”
Sources:
- McGovern, Una, Ed. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Chambers: Edinburgh, 2002.
- www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/269340/John-Philip-Holland. Retrieved 29 Feb 2012.
Image Source:
John Philip Holland, Wikimedia Commons.
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Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-1896)
Famous Inventor Birthday, October 21
Alfred Nobel, Swedish Chemist, Engineer and Industrialist
Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-1896)
Alfred Bernhard Nobel (21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, engineer, armaments manufacturer and industrialist. Aside from being famous for Nobel Prizes, he is also best known as the inventor of dynamite.
As inventor, Nobel held 355 different patents. He invented the patent for dynamite in Great Britain in 1866 and in the U.S. in 1867. In his last will, he used his enormous fortune acquired from the manufacture of explosives and from interests in oil fields in Russia to institute the Nobel Prizes. The synthetic element nobelium was named after him. His name also survives in modern-day companies such as Dynamit Nobel and Akzo Nobel, which are descendents of the companies Nobel himself established. Nobel Prizes was first awarded in 1901.
Check out this related article: Dynamite and Inventor Alfred Nobel
Source:
MLA style: “Biographical Information”. Nobelprize.org. 1 Nov 2011 http://www.nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/biographical/
Image Credit:
Alfred Nobel, Wikipedia.org
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George Westinghouse – Engineer and Inventor
George Westinghouse, US Engineer, Inventor. Image: Wiki Commons
George Westinghouse (1846-1914)
American Engineer and Inventor
George Westinghouse, Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was an American engineer and entrepreneur who invented the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry. He was also one of Thomas Alva Edison‘s rivals in the early implementation of the American electricity system. Westinghouse’s system, which used alternating current based on the extensive research by Nikola Tesla, eventually prevailed over Edison’s insistence on direct Current.
In 1911, Westinghouse received the AIEE’s Edison Medal “For meritorious achievement in connection with the development of the alternating current system.”
Westinghouse Early Years Profile
Born in Central Bridge, New York, he ran away from school to fight for the North in the American Civil War, then served for a short time in the US Navy. He returned in 1865 to work in his father’s farm machinery workshop. It was also this time that he took out the first of his more than 400 patents, in particular, for a railway steam locomotive.
Westinghouse Important Inventions
His most important invention was the air-brake system he patented in 1869. This became known as “Westinghouse air brake” that greatly increased the speed of trains that could also travel safely.
Westinghouse also became a pioneer in the use of alternating current for electric power distribution. In 1886, he founded the Westinghouse Electrical Company, attracting Nicola Tesla to work with him. Nine year later, Westinghouse harnessed the power of the Niagara Falls to generate successfully enough electricity for the town of Buffalo.
Westinghouse Steam and Air Brakes, USP144006. Photo from Wiki Commons
Sources:
- Garbedian, H Gordon. George Westinghouse: A fabulous Inventor. (1943).
- George Westinghouse. IEEE Global History Network. IEEE. Accessed October 10, 2011.
- www.westinghousenuclear.com/Our_Company/history/george_westinghouse. Accessed October 10, 2011.
- web.mit.edu/invent/iow/westinghouse. Accessed October 10, 2011.
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