The AVIDAC or Argonne Version of the Institute's Digital Automatic Computer, an early computer built by Argonne National Laboratory

Argonne National Laboratory

Argonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest...

, was based on the IAS

IAS machine

The IAS machine was the first electronic computer built by the Institute for Advanced Study , in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. It is sometimes called the von Neuman machine, since the paper describing its design was edited by John von Neumann, a mathematics professor at both Princeton University...

 architecture developed by John von Neumann

John von Neumann

John von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields, including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, geometry, fluid dynamics, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis,...

. It was built by the Laborarory's Physics Division for $250,000 and began operations on January 28, 1953.

As with all computers of its era, it was a one of a kind machine that could not exchange programs with other computers (even other IAS machine

IAS machine

The IAS machine was the first electronic computer built by the Institute for Advanced Study , in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. It is sometimes called the von Neuman machine, since the paper describing its design was edited by John von Neumann, a mathematics professor at both Princeton University...

s). It began operation in January, 1953.

External links

• AVIDAC