Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 2.2 Electronic computing device ENIAC—input of initial data
During the Second World War, improvement and development of new types of
weapons generated overwhelming requirements to computing.
In 1941, the personnel of the Aberdeen Ballistic Research Laboratory in the
United States approached the University of Pennsylvania's School of Electrical
Engineering located nearby for help in creating firing tables. They suggested using
the available Bush differential analyzer—a bulky mechanical analogous computing
device. However, John Mauchly, a physicist at the School, proposed to create for
this purpose a then powerful computer based on electronic valves. In April 1943 a
contract was signed between the Ballistic Research Laboratory and the University
of Pennsylvania to develop a computing machine, called the Electronic Numerical
Integrator and Computer (ENIA
) with a budget of $400,000. About 200 people
took part in this work, including several dozen mathematicians and engineers. The
project was placed under the supervision of J. Mauchly and a talented electrical
engineer Presper Eckert. The hard work was completed in late 1945 when ENIAC
was successfully tested. In early 1946, the machine was first applied to solving real
problems. Its dimensions were impressive: it measured 26 m in length, 6 m in
height, and weighed 35 tons. It used the decimal numeral system and could hold in
memory 20 ten-digit decimal numbers. ENIAC was programmed by being rewired
via plugs and a patch panel which caused inconvenience since it could take many
hours and even days to reprogram (Fig. 2.2 ). Therefore in 1945, while still com-
pleting the ENIAC project, its creators were already developing a new electronic
С
Search WWH ::




Custom Search