John Vincent Atanasoff
Encyclopedia
John Vincent Atanasoff was an American physicist and inventor.
The 1973 decision of the patent suit Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
named him the inventor of the first automatic electronic digital computer. His special-purpose machine has come to be called the Atanasoff–Berry Computer.
The son of a Bulgarian
immigrant who became an electrical engineer, Atanasoff held positions as a teaching professor, a governmental wartime research director, and a corporate research executive before being recognized in the 1970s and 1980s for digital electronic computer research he conducted at Iowa State College
in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
to an electrical engineer and a school teacher. Atanasoff's father, Ivan Atanasov was born in 1876 in the village of Boyadzhik
, close to Yambol
. While Ivan was still an infant, Ivan's own father was killed by Ottoman soldiers
after the Bulgarian April Uprising
. In 1889, Ivan Atanasov emigrated to the United States with his uncle. John Vincent Atanasoff's mother, Iva Lucena Purdy, was a teacher of mathematics.
Atanasoff was raised by his parents in Brewster, Florida
. At the age of nine he learned to use a slide rule
, followed shortly by the study of logarithm
s, and subsequently completed high school at Mulberry High School
in two years. In 1925, Atanasoff received his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering
from the University of Florida
, graduating with straight A's.
He continued his education at Iowa State College
and in 1926 earned a master's degree
in mathematics
. He completed his formal education in 1930 by earning a Ph.D.
in theoretical physics
from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
with his thesis, The Dielectric Constant of Helium. Upon completion of his doctorate, Atanasoff accepted an assistant professorship
at Iowa State College in mathematics
and physics
.
Partly due to the drudgery of using the mechanical Monroe calculator, which was the best tool available to him while he was writing his doctoral thesis, Atanasoff began to search for faster methods of computation. At Iowa State, Atanasoff researched the use of slaved Monroe calculators and IBM
tabulator
s for scientific problems. In 1936 he invented an analog calculator
for analyzing surface geometry. The fine mechanical tolerance required for good accuracy pushed him to consider digital solutions.
According to Atanasoff, several operative principles of the Atanasoff–Berry Computer (ABC) were conceived by the professor in a flash of insight during the winter of 1937–1938 after a drive to Rock Island, Illinois
. With a grant of $650 received in September 1939 (the equivalent of $8403 in 2010) and the assistance of his graduate student Clifford Berry
, the ABC was prototyped by November of that year.
The key ideas employed in the ABC included binary
math and Boolean logic
to solve up to 29 simultaneous linear equations. The ABC had no central processing unit
(CPU), but was designed as an electronic device using vacuum tube
s for digital computation. It also used separate regenerative capacitor
memory that operated by a process still used today in DRAM
memory.
Between 1954 and 1973, Atanasoff was a witness in legal actions brought by various parties to invalidate electronic computing patents issued to John Mauchly
and J. Presper Eckert
, which were owned by computer manufacturer Sperry Rand. In the 1973 decision of Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
, a federal judge named Atanasoff the inventor of the electronic digital computer.
Atanasoff first met Mauchly at the December 1940 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
in Philadelphia, where Mauchly was demonstrating his "harmonic analyzer", an analog calculator for analysis of weather data. Atanasoff told Mauchly about his new digital device and invited him to see it. (During the Philadelphia trip, Atanasoff and Berry also conducted a patent search at the Patent Office
in Washington, D.C.)
In June 1941 Mauchly visited Atanasoff in Ames, Iowa
for four days, staying as his houseguest. Atanasoff and Mauchly discussed the prototype ABC, examined it, and reviewed Atanasoff's design manuscript. In September 1942 Atanasoff left Iowa State for a wartime assignment as Chief of the Acoustic Division with the Naval Ordnance Laboratory
(NOL) in Washington, D.C.; no patent application for the ABC was subsequently filed by Iowa State College.
Mauchly visited Atanasoff multiple times in Washington during 1943 and discussed computing theories, but did not mention that he was working on a computer project himself until early 1944.
By 1945 the U.S. Navy
had decided to build a large scale computer, on the advice of John von Neumann
. Atanasoff was put in charge of the project, and he asked Mauchly to help with job descriptions for the necessary staff. However, Atanasoff was also given the responsibility for designing acoustic systems for monitoring atomic bomb tests. That job was made the priority, and by the time he returned from the testing at Bikini Atoll
in July 1946, the NOL computer project was shut down due to lack of progress, again on the advice of von Neumann.
In June 1954 IBM
patent attorney A.J. Etienne sought Atanasoff's help in breaking an Eckert-Mauchly patent on a revolving magnetic memory drum, having been alerted by Clifford Berry that the ABC's revolving capacitor memory drum may have constituted prior art
. Atanasoff agreed to assist the attorney, but IBM ultimately entered a patent-sharing agreement with Sperry Rand, the owners of the Eckert-Mauchly memory patent, and the case was dropped.
Atanasoff was deposed and testified at trial in the later action Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
. In that case's decision, Judge Earl R. Larson found that "Eckert and Mauchly did not themselves first invent the automatic electronic digital computer, but instead derived that subject matter from one Dr. John Vincent Atanasoff".
s for long-range explosive detection
. In 1952 he founded and led the Ordnance Engineering Corporation, selling the company to Aerojet General Corporation in 1956 and becoming Aerojet's Atlantic Division president.
In 1960 Atanasoff and his wife Alice moved to their hilltop farm in New Market, Maryland
for their retirement. In 1961 he started another company, Cybernetics
Incorporated, in Frederick, Maryland
which he operated for 20 years. He was gradually drawn into the legal disputes being contested by the fast growing computer companies Honeywell
and Sperry Rand. Following the resolution of Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
, Atanasoff was warmly honored by Iowa State College, which had since become Iowa State University
, and more awards followed.
Atanasoff died in 1995 of a stroke at his home after a lengthy illness. He is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Mount Airy, Maryland
.
Atanasoff's first national award for scientific achievements was the Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius
, First Class, Bulgaria's highest scientific honor bestowed to him in 1970, before the 1973 court ruling.
In 1990, President George H. W. Bush
awarded Atanasoff the United States National Medal of Technology
, the highest U.S. honor conferred for achievements related to technological progress.
Other distinctions awarded to Atanasoff include:
The 1973 decision of the patent suit Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
Honeywell, Inc. v. Mc'Donalds., et al. 180 USPQ 673 was a landmark U.S. federal court case that in April 1973 invalidated the 1964 patent for the ENIAC, the world's first general-purpose electronic digital computer, thus putting the invention of the electronic digital computer into the public...
named him the inventor of the first automatic electronic digital computer. His special-purpose machine has come to be called the Atanasoff–Berry Computer.
The son of a Bulgarian
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
immigrant who became an electrical engineer, Atanasoff held positions as a teaching professor, a governmental wartime research director, and a corporate research executive before being recognized in the 1970s and 1980s for digital electronic computer research he conducted at Iowa State College
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Early life and education
John Atanasoff was born on October 4, 1903 in Hamilton, New YorkHamilton (village), New York
The Village of Hamilton is a village located within the town of Hamilton in Madison County, New York, USA.-Geography and climate:The village, located at , lies in the Chenango Valley, just south of the headwaters of the Chenango River. The village is approximately southeast of Syracuse and ...
to an electrical engineer and a school teacher. Atanasoff's father, Ivan Atanasov was born in 1876 in the village of Boyadzhik
Boyadzhik
Boyadzhik is a village in Tundzha Municipality of Yambol Province, Bulgaria. Situated 22 km west of the city of Yambol, and 8 km southwest of the joint US-Bulgarian Bezmer Air Base, at elevation 153 m. Population 1,514. Birth place of Ivan Atanasov, the father of John Vincent...
, close to Yambol
Yambol
Yambol is a city in southeastern Bulgaria, an administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. As of February 2011, the town has a population of 72,843 inhabitants. It is occasionally spelt 'Jambol'.The administrative centres...
. While Ivan was still an infant, Ivan's own father was killed by Ottoman soldiers
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
after the Bulgarian April Uprising
April Uprising
The April Uprising was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876, which indirectly resulted in the re-establishment of Bulgaria as an autonomous nation in 1878...
. In 1889, Ivan Atanasov emigrated to the United States with his uncle. John Vincent Atanasoff's mother, Iva Lucena Purdy, was a teacher of mathematics.
Atanasoff was raised by his parents in Brewster, Florida
Brewster, Florida
Brewster is a ghost town in southwest Polk County, Florida 10 miles south of Mulberry. It is at an elevation of 143 feet above sea level. It has been uninhabited since the early 1960s. The population is 3, according to the 2010 Census....
. At the age of nine he learned to use a slide rule
Slide rule
The slide rule, also known colloquially as a slipstick, is a mechanical analog computer. The slide rule is used primarily for multiplication and division, and also for functions such as roots, logarithms and trigonometry, but is not normally used for addition or subtraction.Slide rules come in a...
, followed shortly by the study of logarithm
Logarithm
The logarithm of a number is the exponent by which another fixed value, the base, has to be raised to produce that number. For example, the logarithm of 1000 to base 10 is 3, because 1000 is 10 to the power 3: More generally, if x = by, then y is the logarithm of x to base b, and is written...
s, and subsequently completed high school at Mulberry High School
Mulberry High School
Mulberry High School is a four-year public high school located in Mulberry, Florida, serving the city and surrounding areas. Its enrollment is 1005 students.-History:...
in two years. In 1925, Atanasoff received his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
from the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
, graduating with straight A's.
He continued his education at Iowa State College
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
and in 1926 earned a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
. He completed his formal education in 1930 by earning a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in theoretical physics
Theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...
from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
with his thesis, The Dielectric Constant of Helium. Upon completion of his doctorate, Atanasoff accepted an assistant professorship
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at Iowa State College in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
.
Computer development
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
tabulator
Unit record equipment
Before the advent of electronic computers, data processing was performed using electromechanical devices called unit record equipment, electric accounting machines or tabulating machines. Unit record machines were as ubiquitous in industry and government in the first half of the twentieth century...
s for scientific problems. In 1936 he invented an analog calculator
Analog computer
An analog computer is a form of computer that uses the continuously-changeable aspects of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to model the problem being solved...
for analyzing surface geometry. The fine mechanical tolerance required for good accuracy pushed him to consider digital solutions.
According to Atanasoff, several operative principles of the Atanasoff–Berry Computer (ABC) were conceived by the professor in a flash of insight during the winter of 1937–1938 after a drive to Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
. With a grant of $650 received in September 1939 (the equivalent of $8403 in 2010) and the assistance of his graduate student Clifford Berry
Clifford Berry
Clifford Edward Berry was an American inventor.Clifford Berry was born in Gladbrook, Iowa to Fred Gordon Berry and Grace Strohm...
, the ABC was prototyped by November of that year.
The key ideas employed in the ABC included binary
Binary numeral system
The binary numeral system, or base-2 number system, represents numeric values using two symbols, 0 and 1. More specifically, the usual base-2 system is a positional notation with a radix of 2...
math and Boolean logic
Boolean logic
Boolean algebra is a logical calculus of truth values, developed by George Boole in the 1840s. It resembles the algebra of real numbers, but with the numeric operations of multiplication xy, addition x + y, and negation −x replaced by the respective logical operations of...
to solve up to 29 simultaneous linear equations. The ABC had no central processing unit
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
(CPU), but was designed as an electronic device using vacuum tube
Vacuum tube
In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...
s for digital computation. It also used separate regenerative capacitor
Capacitor
A capacitor is a passive two-terminal electrical component used to store energy in an electric field. The forms of practical capacitors vary widely, but all contain at least two electrical conductors separated by a dielectric ; for example, one common construction consists of metal foils separated...
memory that operated by a process still used today in DRAM
Dram
Dram or DRAM may refer to:As a unit of measure:* Dram , an imperial unit of mass and volume* Armenian dram, a monetary unit* Dirham, a unit of currency in several Arab nationsOther uses:...
memory.
Patent dispute
- For a more detailed account, see Honeywell v. Sperry RandHoneywell v. Sperry RandHoneywell, Inc. v. Mc'Donalds., et al. 180 USPQ 673 was a landmark U.S. federal court case that in April 1973 invalidated the 1964 patent for the ENIAC, the world's first general-purpose electronic digital computer, thus putting the invention of the electronic digital computer into the public...
.
Between 1954 and 1973, Atanasoff was a witness in legal actions brought by various parties to invalidate electronic computing patents issued to John Mauchly
John Mauchly
John William Mauchly was an American physicist who, along with J. Presper Eckert, designed ENIAC, the first general purpose electronic digital computer, as well as EDVAC, BINAC and UNIVAC I, the first commercial computer made in the United States.Together they started the first computer company,...
and J. Presper Eckert
J. Presper Eckert
John Adam Presper "Pres" Eckert Jr. was an American electrical engineer and computer pioneer. With John Mauchly he invented the first general-purpose electronic digital computer , presented the first course in computing topics , founded the first commercial computer company , and...
, which were owned by computer manufacturer Sperry Rand. In the 1973 decision of Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
Honeywell, Inc. v. Mc'Donalds., et al. 180 USPQ 673 was a landmark U.S. federal court case that in April 1973 invalidated the 1964 patent for the ENIAC, the world's first general-purpose electronic digital computer, thus putting the invention of the electronic digital computer into the public...
, a federal judge named Atanasoff the inventor of the electronic digital computer.
Atanasoff first met Mauchly at the December 1940 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
in Philadelphia, where Mauchly was demonstrating his "harmonic analyzer", an analog calculator for analysis of weather data. Atanasoff told Mauchly about his new digital device and invited him to see it. (During the Philadelphia trip, Atanasoff and Berry also conducted a patent search at the Patent Office
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,...
in Washington, D.C.)
In June 1941 Mauchly visited Atanasoff in Ames, Iowa
Ames, Iowa
Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa in Story County, and approximately north of Des Moines. The U.S. Census Bureau designates that Ames, Iowa metropolitan statistical area as encompassing all of Story County, and which, when combined with the Boone, Iowa...
for four days, staying as his houseguest. Atanasoff and Mauchly discussed the prototype ABC, examined it, and reviewed Atanasoff's design manuscript. In September 1942 Atanasoff left Iowa State for a wartime assignment as Chief of the Acoustic Division with the Naval Ordnance Laboratory
Naval Ordnance Laboratory
The Naval Ordnance Laboratory , now disestablished, formerly located in White Oak, Maryland was the site of considerable work that had practical impact upon world technology. The White Oak site of NOL has now been taken over by the Food and Drug Administration.-History:The U.S...
(NOL) in Washington, D.C.; no patent application for the ABC was subsequently filed by Iowa State College.
Mauchly visited Atanasoff multiple times in Washington during 1943 and discussed computing theories, but did not mention that he was working on a computer project himself until early 1944.
By 1945 the U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
had decided to build a large scale computer, on the advice of 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,...
. Atanasoff was put in charge of the project, and he asked Mauchly to help with job descriptions for the necessary staff. However, Atanasoff was also given the responsibility for designing acoustic systems for monitoring atomic bomb tests. That job was made the priority, and by the time he returned from the testing at Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....
in July 1946, the NOL computer project was shut down due to lack of progress, again on the advice of von Neumann.
In June 1954 IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
patent attorney A.J. Etienne sought Atanasoff's help in breaking an Eckert-Mauchly patent on a revolving magnetic memory drum, having been alerted by Clifford Berry that the ABC's revolving capacitor memory drum may have constituted prior art
Prior art
Prior art , in most systems of patent law, constitutes all information that has been made available to the public in any form before a given date that might be relevant to a patent's claims of originality...
. Atanasoff agreed to assist the attorney, but IBM ultimately entered a patent-sharing agreement with Sperry Rand, the owners of the Eckert-Mauchly memory patent, and the case was dropped.
Atanasoff was deposed and testified at trial in the later action Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
Honeywell, Inc. v. Mc'Donalds., et al. 180 USPQ 673 was a landmark U.S. federal court case that in April 1973 invalidated the 1964 patent for the ENIAC, the world's first general-purpose electronic digital computer, thus putting the invention of the electronic digital computer into the public...
. In that case's decision, Judge Earl R. Larson found that "Eckert and Mauchly did not themselves first invent the automatic electronic digital computer, but instead derived that subject matter from one Dr. John Vincent Atanasoff".
Postwar life
Following World War II Atanasoff remained with the government and developed specialized seismographs and microbarographBarograph
A barograph is a recording aneroid barometer. It produces a paper or foil chart called a barogram that records the barometric pressure over time....
s for long-range explosive detection
Explosive detection
Explosive detection is a non-destructive inspection process to determine whether a container contains explosive material. Explosive detection is commonly used at airports, ports and for border control.-Dogs:...
. In 1952 he founded and led the Ordnance Engineering Corporation, selling the company to Aerojet General Corporation in 1956 and becoming Aerojet's Atlantic Division president.
In 1960 Atanasoff and his wife Alice moved to their hilltop farm in New Market, Maryland
New Market, Maryland
New Market is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The population was 427 at the 2000 census. The town bills itself as the "Antiques capital of Maryland".-Geography:New Market is located at ....
for their retirement. In 1961 he started another company, Cybernetics
Cybernetics
Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
Incorporated, in Frederick, Maryland
Frederick, Maryland
Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
which he operated for 20 years. He was gradually drawn into the legal disputes being contested by the fast growing computer companies Honeywell
Honeywell
Honeywell International, Inc. is a major conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments....
and Sperry Rand. Following the resolution of Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
Honeywell, Inc. v. Mc'Donalds., et al. 180 USPQ 673 was a landmark U.S. federal court case that in April 1973 invalidated the 1964 patent for the ENIAC, the world's first general-purpose electronic digital computer, thus putting the invention of the electronic digital computer into the public...
, Atanasoff was warmly honored by Iowa State College, which had since become Iowa State University
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
, and more awards followed.
Atanasoff died in 1995 of a stroke at his home after a lengthy illness. He is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Mount Airy, Maryland
Mount Airy, Maryland
Mount Airy is a town in Carroll, Frederick, Howard, and Montgomery counties in the U.S. state of Maryland.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land.-History:...
.
Honors and distinctions
Orders, decorations, and medals of Bulgaria
Orders, decorations and medals of Bulgaria are regulated by the law on the Orders and Medals of the Republic Of Bulgaria of 29 May 2003.The National Military History Museum Of Bulgaria in Sofia currently has over 150 Bulgarian Orders in the collection, which it has acquired over 85 years in...
, First Class, Bulgaria's highest scientific honor bestowed to him in 1970, before the 1973 court ruling.
In 1990, President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
awarded Atanasoff the United States National Medal of Technology
National Medal of Technology
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation is an honor granted by the President of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development of new and important technology...
, the highest U.S. honor conferred for achievements related to technological progress.
Other distinctions awarded to Atanasoff include:
- U.S. Navy Distinguished Service Award (1945)
- Citation, Seismological Society of America (1947)
- Citation, Admiral, Bureau of Ordnance (1947)
- Cosmos Club membership (1947)
- Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) University of FloridaUniversity of FloridaThe University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
(1974) - Honorary membership, Society for Computer Medicine (1974)
- Iowa Inventors Hall of Fame (1978)
- Computer Pioneer Medal from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics EngineersInstitute of Electrical and Electronics EngineersThe Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...
(IEEE) (1981) - Iowa Governor's Science Medal (1985)
- Order of the People's Republic of BulgariaOrders, decorations, and medals of BulgariaOrders, decorations and medals of Bulgaria are regulated by the law on the Orders and Medals of the Republic Of Bulgaria of 29 May 2003.The National Military History Museum Of Bulgaria in Sofia currently has over 150 Bulgarian Orders in the collection, which it has acquired over 85 years in...
, First Class (1985) - Computing Appreciation Award, EDUCOM (1985)
- Foreign Member of the Bulgarian Academy of SciencesBulgarian Academy of SciencesThe Bulgarian Academy of Sciences is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy is autonomous and has a Society of Academicians, Correspondent Members and Foreign Members...
(1985) - Holley Medal, American Society of Mechanical EngineersAmerican Society of Mechanical EngineersThe American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....
(1985) - Honorary citizen of the city of YambolYambolYambol is a city in southeastern Bulgaria, an administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. As of February 2011, the town has a population of 72,843 inhabitants. It is occasionally spelt 'Jambol'.The administrative centres...
, Bulgaria (1985; Atanasoff’s father was born in Yambol region) - CoorsCoors Brewing CompanyThe Coors Brewing Company is a regional division of the world's fifth-largest brewing company, the Canadian Molson Coors Brewing Company and is the third-largest brewer in the United States...
American Ingenuity Award (1986) - Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) University of Wisconsin–MadisonUniversity of Wisconsin–MadisonThe University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
(1987)
Named after Atanasoff
- Atanasoff NunatakAtanasoff NunatakAtanasoff Nunatak is a nunatak, a sharp peak rising to 523 m in the east extremity of Bowles Ridge, Livingston Island, Antarctica. The peak sumounts Huron Glacier to the south and east, and Struma Glacier to the north...
(a peak) on Livingston Island in the South Shetland IslandsSouth Shetland IslandsThe South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, with a total area of . By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for...
, Antarctica - The asteroidAsteroidAsteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
(3546) Atanasoff3546 Atanasoff3546 Atanasoff is a main-belt asteroid discovered on September 28, 1983 by Helin, E. F. and Shkodrav, V. at Rozhen. It was named after physicist John Vincent Atanasoff.- External links :*...
, discovered by the Rozhen ObservatoryRozhen ObservatoryRozhen Observatory is a Bulgarian astronomical observatory, located 90 km south of the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The nearest town, Chepelare, is 15 km away. It is owned and operated by the Institute of Astronomy of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The Observatory is one of the largest in Europe... - Atanasoff Hall, a computer science building on the Iowa State campus
- Iowa State's implementation of MIT's Project AthenaProject AthenaProject Athena was a joint project of MIT, Digital Equipment Corporation, and IBM to produce a campus-wide distributed computing environment for educational use. It was launched in 1983, and research and development ran until June 30, 1991, eight years after it began...
("Project Vincent", after Atanasoff's middle name) - The John Atanasoff Award, established by Georgi ParvanovGeorgi ParvanovGeorgi Sedefchov Parvanov is a President of Bulgaria, whose second and last mandate expires on January 22, 2012; he was elected after defeating his predecessor Petar Stoyanov in the second round of the presidential elections in November 2001 and he came into office on January 22, 2002...
in 2003 and bestowed annually by the President of Bulgaria to a young Bulgarian for achievements in the field of computer and information technologiesInformation technologyInformation technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
and the information societyInformation societyThe aim of the information society is to gain competitive advantage internationally through using IT in a creative and productive way. An information society is a society in which the creation, distribution, diffusion, use, integration and manipulation of information is a significant economic,...
of Bulgaria - The John Atanasoff Technical College in the Bulgarian city of PlovdivPlovdivPlovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
, a branch of the Technical University of SofiaTechnical University of SofiaThe Technical University of Sofia , based in Sofia, is the largest technical university in Bulgaria.Founded on 15 October 1945 as part of the Higher Technical School , it is an independent institution since 1953, when the Polytechnic was divided into four separate technical institutes... - The John Atanasoff Bulgarian national tournament in informatics and information technologies, held in the city of ShumenShumenShumen is the tenth-largest city in Bulgaria and capital of Shumen Province. In the period 1950–1965 it was called Kolarovgrad, after the name of the communist leader Vasil Kolarov...
annually since 2001 - The John Atanasoff Professional High School of Electronics in the city of Stara ZagoraStara ZagoraStara Zagora is the sixth largest city in Bulgaria, and a nationally important economic center. Located in Southern Bulgaria, it is the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province...
, Bulgaria - The John Atanasoff Professional High School of Electronics in SofiaSofiaSofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
- The John Atanasoff ChitalishteChitalishteA chitalishte is a typical Bulgarian public institution and building which fulfils several functions at once, such as a community centre, library and a theatre. It is also used as an educational institution, where people of all ages can enroll in foreign language, dance, music and other courses....
(community cultural centre), SofiaSofiaSofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated... - The John Atanasoff ChitalishteChitalishteA chitalishte is a typical Bulgarian public institution and building which fulfils several functions at once, such as a community centre, library and a theatre. It is also used as an educational institution, where people of all ages can enroll in foreign language, dance, music and other courses....
, BoyadzhikBoyadzhikBoyadzhik is a village in Tundzha Municipality of Yambol Province, Bulgaria. Situated 22 km west of the city of Yambol, and 8 km southwest of the joint US-Bulgarian Bezmer Air Base, at elevation 153 m. Population 1,514. Birth place of Ivan Atanasov, the father of John Vincent...
Village, Bulgaria (the birth place of Atanasoff’s father) - Prof. John Atanasoff 4th Primary School, SofiaSofiaSofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
- The John Atanasoff Private High School, BlagoevgradBlagoevgradBlagoevgrad is а city in southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Province, with a population of about 74,302 . It lies on the banks of the Blagoevgradska Bistritsa River....
, Bulgaria - The John Atanasoff Professional Technical High School, KyustendilKyustendilKyustendil is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of Kyustendil Province, with a population of 44 416 . Kyustendil is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, 90 km southwest of Sofia...
, Bulgaria - The John Atanasoff Professional High School of Economic Informatics, TargovishteTargovishteTargovishte is a city in Bulgaria, capital of Targovishte Province. It is situated at the northern foot of the low mountain of Preslav on both banks of the Vrana River. The town is 335 km away to the north-east from the capital Sofia and about 125 km to the west from the city of Varna...
, Bulgaria - The John Atanasoff University Student Computer Club, Plovdiv UniversityPlovdiv UniversityThe Plovdiv University "Paisiy Hilendarski" is a university located in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. It was founded in 1962 and has nine faculties.- History and Profile :...
, Bulgaria - John Atanasoff Street, YambolYambolYambol is a city in southeastern Bulgaria, an administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. As of February 2011, the town has a population of 72,843 inhabitants. It is occasionally spelt 'Jambol'.The administrative centres...
, Bulgaria - John Atanasoff Street, SofiaSofiaSofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
See also
- History of computing hardwareHistory of computing hardwareThe history of computing hardware is the record of the ongoing effort to make computer hardware faster, cheaper, and capable of storing more data....
- Claude Elwood ShannonClaude Elwood ShannonClaude Elwood Shannon was an American mathematician, electronic engineer, and cryptographer known as "the father of information theory"....
- George StibitzGeorge StibitzGeorge Robert Stibitz is internationally recognized as one of the fathers of the modern digital computer...
- Victor ShestakovVictor ShestakovVictor Ivanovich Shestakov was a Russian/Soviet logician and theoretician of electrical engineering. In 1935 he discovered the possible interpretation of Boolean algebra of logic in electro-mechanical relay circuits...
- Konrad ZuseKonrad ZuseKonrad 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....
External links
- JohnAtanasoff.com
- The Atanasoff Archives at Iowa State
- Atanasoff Personal Papers at Iowa State
- John V. Atanasoff Dies at Age 91 Invented First Electronic Computer – Washington Post Obituary, 1995
- John V. Atanasoff: Obituary – Virtual Museum of Computing
- Another Biography
- Biography at Virginia Tech
- A. R. Mackintosh, “Dr. Atanasoff’s Computer,” Scientific American, August 1988 (Archived 2009-10-31)
- Breakthrough Square – a proposed recognition of Atanasoff in Rock Island, IllinoisRock Island, IllinoisRock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...