John Atanasoff was an American physicist at Iowa State College who, with his graduate student Clifford Berry, built the Atanasoff-Berry Computer between 1939 and 1942, the first machine to compute electronically using vacuum tubes and binary numbers. The machine was limited to solving systems of linear equations and was never patented or fully perfected, but a 1973 federal court ruling credited it as the true origin of the electronic digital computer, over the later, patented ENIAC.
Facts
FAQs
What led John Atanasoff to start designing a computing machine?
The shortcomings of the Monroe mechanical calculator he used for his doctoral computations motivated him to think about a more sophisticated calculating machine.
The Engineering and Technology History Wiki traces it to his doctoral work in theoretical physics at the University of Wisconsin, where his thesis required many complicated and time consuming computations. He used the Monroe mechanical calculator, one of the best machines of the time, but its shortcomings were painfully obvious and motivated him to think about developing a more sophisticated calculating machine. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1930 he returned to the staff of Iowa State College and began work on a better and faster computing machine.
Connections
Associated With
Co-invented the Atanasoff-Berry Computer, an early electronic digital computer.
In Field
Source John Vincent Atanasoff (Wikipedia)
Held Differently
The Computer, Inventions Why this is disputed. A 1973 federal court, Honeywell v. Sperry Rand, found ENIAC's patented design derived from the Atanasoff-Berry Computer and invalidated the ENIAC patent, crediting Atanasoff with the electronic digital computer's true origin even though his own machine was never general purpose or patented.
Source Honeywell, Inc. v. Sperry Rand Corp. (1973)
In the Other Atlases
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Sources
1. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.View the Source Honeywell, Inc. v. Sperry Rand Corp. (1973)
John Vincent Atanasoff (Wikipedia)
In Field: Computer Engineering, Introduction
John Vincent Atanasoff (October 4, 1903, June 15, 1995) was an American physicist and inventor credited with inventing the first electronic digital computer.
In Group: Computing Hardware and Network Pioneers, Introduction
John Vincent Atanasoff (October 4, 1903, June 15, 1995) was an American physicist and inventor credited with inventing the first electronic digital computer.
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