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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Melvin Calvin – Calvin Cycle and Photosynthesis
Famous Scientist Datebook: April 8
Melvin Calvin (1911-1997), American Chemist
Melvin Calvin Major Work – The Calvin Cycle Discovery and Photosynthesis
Melvin Ellis Calvin (April 8, 1911 – January 8, 1997), was an American chemist famous for his work on photosynthesis and discovering the Calvin cycle along with Andrew Benson and James Bassham. He contributed in all areas of Chemistry and spent most of his career at the University of California, Berkeley. He was awarded the 1961 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Melvin Calvin Professional Profile
The son of Russian and Lithuanian immigrants to the U.S., Melvin Calvin was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. The family settled in Detroit, Michigan, where he attended the Michigan College of Mining and Technology, becoming the school’s first chemistry major. He completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota. He also studied at the University of Manchester and University of California, Berkeley.
It was in the early 1940s when Calvin began to focus his work on photosynthesis by using radioactive tracers in chemical reactions. During this period in his researches and experiments, his now known Calvin Cycle of plant pphotosynthesis took fruition.
The Calvin Cycle and Photosynthesis
The Calvin Cycle or the Calvin-Benson-Bassham Cycle – is a system that describes the series of biochemical reactions taking place in the chloroplasts of photosynthetic organisms. Further, the cycle describes a light independent reaction (that is, without any need for visible or ultraviolet light), where stored energy is used to convert carbon dioxide and water into organic compounds. In each stage of the process of “carbon fixation,” carbon dioxide is added with a carbon-14 tracer to explain the chemical pathway.
Resource:
Image Source:
Melvin Calvin, Wiki Commons, Public Domain
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History of Motorsport
Image: Formula One Race in 2008
The racing car history, auto racing, and sports racing cars have gone a long way.
Recently, I bumped into a former colleague in information technology, now turned sports car insurance agent. He is a car insurance adviser who took interest when I mentioned that I happened to watch the Malaysian Grand Prix 2012 on television recently. I also mentioned that I planned to write a brief history of motorsports, more to do with racing car history rather than history of cars.
It turned out that my research information was more than my former colleague’s knowledge, understandably, since his focus is to sell sports car insurance policies.
Sports Racing Cars
Motorsports, on purpose-built circuits and on roads, is followed avidly by fans worldwide. Auto or car races, also known as automobile racing, car racing or motor racing, is a motorsport that involves the racing of cars for competition. Champion car racers are always on the look out for the best race cars and rally cars available.
Early Motorsport on Wheels
The earliest sport on wheels was chariot racing, which was enjoyed by ancient Egyptians and Romans. During the 19th century bicycles were raced, and from 1885, the motorcar and motorcycle were soon used for racing.
Rally Car
Rally cars are modified production cars, which can be driven over extremely challenging terrain, such as muddy hillsides, that tests both machine and driver. In a car rally, cars set off at intervals…
Continue reading: History of Motorsports, Racing Cars and Rally Cars
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Melanie Klein on Object Relations and Child Therapy
Famous Scientist Datebook: March 30
Melanie Klein, Psychoanalyst
British Psychoanalyst Melanie Klein on Object Relations and Child Therapy
Melanie Klein is famous for object relations theory and child therapy. She pioneered child therapy, therapeutic techniques that had an impact on child psychology and contemporary analysis. She was also a leading innovator in theorizing object relations theory. Her ideas and methods are expressed in her books, among them The Psychoanalysis of Children (1932).
Melanie Klein Career Profile in a Nutshell
Melanie Reizes Klein (30 March 1882 – 22 September 1960) was an Austrian-born British psychoanalyst. She studied medicine at first, but when she was in Budapest she was analyzed by a follower of Sigmund Freud, Sandor Ferenczi. She trained with him in his children’s clinic. Klein also studied under Karl Abraham in Berlin, then moved to London in 1926.
Melanie Klein on Object Relations and Child Therapy
Along with her theories on Object relations, Klein also pioneered the widely used techniques of play therapy, more commonly called as Klein’s “child therapy” and the first to apply psychoanalysis to small children. Her belief that neuroses are fixed in the earliest months of life was not without controversy and dissent among her colleagues.
Related Article:
Resources:
www.melanie-klein-trust.org.uk/ (and photo credit)
www.webster.edu/~woolflm/klein.html
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