Showing papers in "IEEE Annals of the History of Computing in 1985"

On the History of the Minimum Spanning Tree Problem

Abstract: It is standard practice among authors discussing the minimum spanning tree problem to refer to the work of Kruskal(1956) and Prim (1957) as the sources of the problem and its first efficient solutions, despite the citation by both of Boruvka (1926) as a predecessor. In fact, there are several apparently independent sources and algorithmic solutions of the problem. They have appeared in Czechoslovakia, France, and Poland, going back to the beginning of this century. We shall explore and compare these works and their motivations, and relate them to the most recent advances on the minimum spanning tree problem.

The Scientific Conceptualization of Information: A Survey

Abstract: The article surveys the development of a scientific conceptualization of information during and in the decade following World War II. It examines the roots of information science in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century mathematical logic, physics, psychology, and electrical engineering, and then focuses on how Warren McCulloch, Walter Pitts, Claude Shannon, Alan Turing, John von Neumann, and Norbert Wiener combined these diverse studies into a coherent discipline.

A Note on Early Monte Carlo Computations and Scientific Meetings

Abstract: This note describes what may have been the first formulation of a Monte Carlo calculation and reproduces the paper where the formulation is described. Speculation is given with respect to the origin of the name. Four early computer meetings at which Monte Carlo calculations were discussed are described. Anecdotes concerning Aiken, Curtiss, Metropolis, Ulam, and von Neumann are included. Finally, the present state of Monte Carlo is discussed.

Christopher Strachey, 1916-1975: A Biographical Note

Abstract: Christopher Strachey was one of the most original computer scientists of his generation: his fields were computer design and programming, and he made important contributions to them both. He liked to say (not quite accurately) that he had changed the direction of his career every seven years. The different phases of his life and career are reflected in the five sections of this note.

How the SAGE Development Began

Abstract: Events leading to the adoption of voice telephone lines for air-defense operational messages are described. This process paved the way for the use of operational data lines in the SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) system. The paper describes the early considerations leading to the use of a digital computer in SAGE, and how Whirlwind was chosen to be that computer. The context of the development of magnetic core memory is illuminated. The attitudes of engineering professionals toward digital equipment are reviewed. The author reveals how the name "Ground Environment" was created.

Helmut Hoelzer's Fully Electronic Analog Computer

Abstract: A fully electronic general-purpose analog computer was designed by Helmut Hoelzer, a German electrical engineer and remote-controlled guidance specialist. He and an assistant built the device in 1941 in Peenemunde, Germany, where they were working as part of Wernher von Braun's long-range rocket development team. The computer was based on an electronic integrator and differentiator conceived by Hoelzer in 1935 and first applied to the guidance system of the A-4 rocket. This computer is significant in the history not only of analog computation but also of the formulation of simulation techniques. It contributed to a system for rocket development that resulted in vehicles capable of reaching the moon.

The Federal Computing Machine Program

Abstract: In an article published in "Science" (Vol. 112, pp. 731-736, December 22, 1950), adapted from a talk given at a meeting of the Association for Computing Machinery in Washington on September 8, 1950, the author gives a brief account of some of the computing machines, both analog and digital, that were in operation on government problems or under construction for government agencies in 1950, and speculates on the direction of future developments.

NASA's Manned Spacecraft Computers

Abstract: Many people believe that NASA's extensive use of computers has kept the agency at the forefront of computer development. This study evaluates the hypothesis in regard to computers used on board manned spacecraft. The results show that NASA's contributions to computer science were made primarily in the areas of software verification and fault tolerance, and that overall, NASA has adopted proved technology for manned space flight operations. This technology is consistently behind the state of the art in terms of hardware, but the continued use of older technology in manned spacecraft is not necessarily a negative development. The computer power used in the Apollo, Gemini, and shuttle programs has been sufficient for the requirements of the missions. Most important, reliability has been ensured.

The Relationship Between COBOL and Computer Science

Abstract: Based on interviews, reviews of the literature, and personal impressions, the author offers historical, technical, and social/psychological perspectives on the fragile relationship between COBOL and computer science. The technical contributions of COBOL to programming language design are evaluated. Five proposals for computer science research on COBOL and fourth-generation languages are described.

Brief Summary of the Early History of COBOL

Abstract: The two definitive presentations of the history of programming languages are: Programming Languages: History and Fundamentals, by Jean E. Sammet, and History of Programming Languages, edited by R. L. Wexelblat. The former was not intended to be just a history, but was an exposition of the state of the programming language field circa 1966-1967; the detailed descriptions of the origins of the languages in the book were at that time the most complete history published. In 1978 Sammet chaired the ACM/SIGPLAN Conference on the History of Programming Languages (HOPL) from which the text of the same title was created. In that volume are both a formal paper on the history of COBOL and the transcript of Sammet's presentation. This following article is an unedited extract from the formal paper, reprinted with the permission of ACM and Academic Press. We chose not to reprint the complete paper here because it is readily accessible, but we are printing a significant portion of it to provide Annals readers with an overview of the early COBOL development. The full version of the paper was reviewed in draft form by most of the key participants of that time period; they generally did not object to the information provided. Thus, that paper and the extract printed here present an accurate description of which people participated, or played major roles, or did not participate in the language definition.

Summary of Changes in COBOL, 1960-1985

Abstract: Sammet and Garfunkel Trace some of the changes in COBOL from its initial 1960 specifications to its current draft 1985 standard. Sammet was there at the beginning, and Garfunkel has been deeply involved in the upgrading of the language and documenting its changes over various versions. The paper contains illustrations of language features that have changed over time.

Reminiscences (Plus a Few Facts)

Abstract: The development committee for the new language, which eventually was named COBOL, was created at a meeting organized and chaired by Charles A. Phillips, then director of the Data Systems Research Staff in the U.S. Department of Defense Comptroller’s Office, and subsequently the chairman of American National Standards Committee X3, which was responsible for the standardization of the language in the United States. Also in that initial collection of people who provided oversight to the early COBOL developers were Joseph F. Cunningham and John L. (Jack) Jones. These three provide their personal perspectives on that early era. Recollections vary, of course; see page 306 for a list of CODASYL Executive Committee chairmen.

History of Computers in Canada

Abstract: The Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) held its annual conference in Calgary on May 9-11, 1984. The conference format consisted of 28 sessions of invited and submitted papers; one of the sessions was devoted to the history of computers in Canada. This is the second time that CIPS included a historical topic in its national conference program, and judging from the interest it generated among the 950 attendees (about 20 percent of whom attended the history session), it won’t be the last. The session started with an invited talk, “FERUT: The First Operational Electronic Computer in Canada,” by Kelly Gotlieb of the University of Toronto. Gotlieb was involved in the early phases of computer development at the University of Toronto where, under pressure from the Canadian Atomic Energy Laboratories and the Defence Research Board, the first steps were being taken to build an in-house machine known as UTEC (see Johnston 1952). A second Ferranti Mark I (the first went to Manchester University) was being constructed for the British Atomic Energy Authority when it was unexpectedly canceled by a newly elected government in 1951. The sponsors of the Canadian project put pressure on the University of Toronto to use the funds to acquire this proven machine for its own use. Thus, in September 1952, the University of Toronto became the proud owner of the second or third production-line machine ever sold to a customer (the first was either the UNIVAC I to the U.S. Bureau of Census or the first Ferranti Mark I to Manchester University; both deliveries occurred a few months earlier). The machine actually arrived in Toronto several months earlier [see the photograph of the FERUT in the review of the proceedings from the meeting in the last issue of the Annals, Vol. 6, No. 4, p. 4181, but it suffered from the usual reliability problems of computers during that era, and it took some time for the Ferranti engineers to get it into proper operation. It generated a lot of interest throughout the North American community because it was one of only a few operational computers available at that time; earlier North American machines were the BINAC, SEAC, SWAC, UNIVAC, the IAS machine (and its copies MANIAC and ORDVAC), and, to a limited extent, Whirlwind. This level of interest prompted ACM to hold its fifth annual conference at Toronto in September 1952the only time it has been held outside the United States. Although the FERUT (Ferranti-University of Toronto) was not fully operational during the conference, Christopher Strachey was able to demonstrate his checkers-playing program to the attendees [see the article on Strachey in this issue]. The FERUT was used for many of the usual types of scientific computations, but its real claim to fame was the calculations it did in the design of the St. Lawrence Seaway project. The extensive calculations involved the iterative solution of a large set of difference equations predicting the water levels to be expected as a result of different amounts of rainfall for different designs of the seaway. At one time the Canadian government was quite anxious to come to an agreement with the United States over a joint seaway project, but congressional approval was slow in coming. The FERUT design calculations, one of which was for an entirely Canadian route, proved to be one of the major deciding factors in the international negotiations. In December 1955 a University of Toronto graduate student took a job at the University of Saskatchewan. Because he wished to continue using the FERUT, special Telex lines were set up to allow him to prepare programs and data in Saskatoon, transmit them 1400 miles to Toronto, and have the results returned the same way about an hour later. The speed of the teletype equipment was too slow for actual on-line use, but it set the stage for the University of Toronto to become a service center for other Canadian universities. This role continued for many years, the current author being only one of many Canadian academics who used the University of Toronto’s 7090 in a similar way in the early 1960s. The University of Toronto continued to develop plans for building a machine of its own and worked for a number of years with the University of Illinois on plans for an ILLIAC II. These plans became less and less viable as, in 1958, the FERUT was replaced by an IBM 650 (which gave no increase in computation

A Course in the History of Computation

Abstract: In 1983 the author first gave a third-year college course in the history of computation at the University of Calgary. His article describes the development and evolution of the course, which is intended to show how the process of calculating has been performed throughout history, as well as the people, events, and forces involved in the development of the electronic computer.

The Number 2-B Regrettor

Abstract: The pompous formality and rigid stuffiness of official documents often tempt humorists to write parodies, but rarely do engineering parodies have either long life or wide circulation. The anonymous underground paper, “Number 2-B Regrettor, Description and Procedures, For People Who Think They Think,” is an exception. Although written more than 45 years ago, it was liberally copied at a time when copying was far more costly than it is today. It was circulated informally through the engineering parts of the telephone, radio, audio, and electronics industries for years. Many now-elderly electrical engineers affectionately recall the 2-B Regrettor and keep copies of its description in their nostalgia files.* The quality of its humor can be appreciated only by reading it, and its full impact will be felt only by those who knew and were subject to the conditions of its origin. I first saw the 2-B Regrettor paper (probably a copy of the second edition) in early 1941 and encountered the third edition on a visit to MIT, probably in 1944. From time to time in the next 40 years, I asked about the author’s identity, directing my queries mostly to friends associated with Bell Labs. In the 1960s I made one or two formal letter requests to the laboratory library but was unable to learn any more about the paper’s origin. My serious search started in 1983 when I realized that the paper described a forerunner of the computer and that the Annals of the History of Computing might be willing to reprint it. A short notice appeared in the July 1983 issue (Vol. 5, No. 3, p. 306) of the Annals, asking for information. It brought a single response, and I found the paper’s fourth edition reprinted in Harry Hershey’s Automatic Telephone Practice. I then prepared similar information request notices that appeared in Communications of the Association for Computing Machinery, IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Institute, Computer, and the Newsletter of the IEEE Center for the History of Electrical Engineering. Of the 70 responses, all but 10 were prompted by the notice in the IEEE Institute.