Helmut Schreyer
Encyclopedia
Helmut Theodor Schreyer was a German inventor. He is mostly known for his work on the Z3, one of the first computers.
Helmut Schreyer was the son of the minister Paul Schreyer and Martha. When his father started to work in a parish in Mosbach
, the young Schreyer went to a school there. He earned his Abitur
in 1933. He then worked as an intern at AEG
.
Schreyer started to study electronic and telecommunications engineering at the Technical University of Berlin in 1934. He got to know Konrad Zuse
in the fraternity AV Motiv in 1935 and then helped him to construct the computer Z1
. In 1938 he earned his diploma and then worked as a graduate assistant at Prof. Wilhelm Stäblein's institute. Schreyer belonged, together with Herbert Raabe (1909–2004), to the first assistants of Wilhelm Stäblein, who had worked at AEG's research division until 1936. During WWII Schreyer was not drafted because his work was considered essential to the war effort. Schreyer e.g. worked on detection technology for unexploded ordnances. He then worked on the accelerometer for the V-2-rocket. Schreyer also worked on technology to convert the radar signal into an audio signal which the pilot of a fighter aircraft might recognize.
Helmut Schreyer advised Konrad Zuse
to use electrical circuit technology to implement computers, but he first considered it practically infeasible and then could not get the necessary funding. Up to 1942 Schreyer himself built an experimental model of a computer using 100 vacuum tubes, which was lost at the end of the war. In 1944 he built an electrical circuit to convert decimal to binary numbers.
After the war he emigrated with his wife and daughter to Brazil where he became professor at the Instituto Militar de Engenharia
in Rio de Janeiro
.
Helmut Schreyer was the son of the minister Paul Schreyer and Martha. When his father started to work in a parish in Mosbach
Mosbach
Mosbach is the capital of the Neckar-Odenwald district in the north of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 58 km east of Heidelberg. Its geographical position is 49.21'N 9.9'E....
, the young Schreyer went to a school there. He earned his Abitur
Abitur
Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...
in 1933. He then worked as an intern at AEG
AEG
Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in 1883 by Emil Rathenau....
.
Schreyer started to study electronic and telecommunications engineering at the Technical University of Berlin in 1934. He got to know Konrad Zuse
Konrad Zuse
Konrad Zuse was a German civil engineer and computer pioneer. His greatest achievement was the world's first functional program-controlled Turing-complete computer, the Z3, which became operational in May 1941....
in the fraternity AV Motiv in 1935 and then helped him to construct the computer Z1
Z1 (computer)
The Z1 was a mechanical computer designed by Konrad Zuse from 1935 to 1936 and built by him from 1936 to 1938. It was a binary electrically driven mechanical calculator with limited programmability, reading instructions from punched tape....
. In 1938 he earned his diploma and then worked as a graduate assistant at Prof. Wilhelm Stäblein's institute. Schreyer belonged, together with Herbert Raabe (1909–2004), to the first assistants of Wilhelm Stäblein, who had worked at AEG's research division until 1936. During WWII Schreyer was not drafted because his work was considered essential to the war effort. Schreyer e.g. worked on detection technology for unexploded ordnances. He then worked on the accelerometer for the V-2-rocket. Schreyer also worked on technology to convert the radar signal into an audio signal which the pilot of a fighter aircraft might recognize.
Helmut Schreyer advised Konrad Zuse
Konrad Zuse
Konrad Zuse was a German civil engineer and computer pioneer. His greatest achievement was the world's first functional program-controlled Turing-complete computer, the Z3, which became operational in May 1941....
to use electrical circuit technology to implement computers, but he first considered it practically infeasible and then could not get the necessary funding. Up to 1942 Schreyer himself built an experimental model of a computer using 100 vacuum tubes, which was lost at the end of the war. In 1944 he built an electrical circuit to convert decimal to binary numbers.
After the war he emigrated with his wife and daughter to Brazil where he became professor at the Instituto Militar de Engenharia
Instituto Militar de Engenharia
The Instituto Militar de Engenharia is an engineering university maintained by the Brazilian Army with Federal support. IME is the oldest and one of the best ranked engineering schools in Brazil, according to the Ministry of Education of that country...
in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
.
Works
- Das Röhrenrelais und seine Schaltungstechnik. Berlin Institute of Technology, Dissertation 1941.
(i.e. Vacuum tube relays and circuit technology) - An Experimental Model of an Electronic Computer. IEEE Annals of the History of ComputingIEEE Annals of the History of ComputingThe IEEE Annals of the History of Computing is a quarterly journal published by the IEEE Computer Society. It contains peer-reviewed articles and other contributions on the history of computing, computer science and computer hardware by computer scientists and historians...
12 #3 (July–September 1990): 187-197.
(Description of the development and construction of a model to test the feasibility of an electronic computer; written in 1977 about his work during the period 1941-1943.) - Medidas Em Comunicaçoes
- Circuitos de Comutação (computadores Eletrônicos Digitais), 1966
- Computadores Eletrônicos Digitais, 1967
