Computer History Archives Project (CHAP) | Harvard Secret Computer Lab- Grace Hopper, Howard Aiken, Harvard Mark 1, 2 , 3 rare IBM Calculators @ComputerHistoryArchivesProject | Uploaded June 2024 | Updated October 2024, 1 week ago.
Computer History: IBM, Harvard University Mark 1, 3, 4, 5: Grace Hopper, Howard Aiken, at Harvard Computation Laboratory, worked on Secret Computing Machines in the early 1940's. Harvard Mark I, Harvard Mark II, III and IV computers are explored through vintage film and photos. Historical Harvard Computation Laboratory, Cambridge, Mass. was home to many computer pioneers, mathematicians, scientists and engineers. Aiken's machines were mechanical, electromechanical or combination, and finally electronic (Mark IV). His machines were the largest of their kind at the time, and produced fast numbers of calculations for the Navy and Air Force. The technology of the machines was made obsolete by the early 1950's as more advanced technologies were produced by others.
Of particular mention here are some of the achievements made by Lt. Grace Hopper (Dec. 9, 1906 – January 1, 1992), who worked with Howard Aiken on the Mark I, II and III computers. Hopper went on to work on more advanced systems after her time at Harvard.
This presentation explores some of the background of the four Aiken machines and the people who were instrumental in their construction. Locations include Harvard University, Cruft Laboratory, Cambridge, Mass., Endicott, New York, Dahlgren, Virginia. (The old Aiken Computation Laboratory of 1948 was demolished in 1997, and replaced with the modern Maxwell-Dworking Laboratory in 1999, which was funded by Bill Gates and Steven A. Ballmer.)
Runs 12 mins. Provided for educational purposes and historical comment only. - Computer History Archives Project (CHAP) (Not affiliated with Harvard Univ.)
Original films and material, courtesy of
IBM Archives
National Archives & Records Administration
Harvard University Archives
Computer History Museum
American Natural History Museum/Smithsonian
Naval History and Heritage Command
See Also Video: Harvard moves the Mark 1 Computer (Aiken's Calculator, IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), in 2021:
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/07/harvards-mark-1-finds-its-new-home/
Additional References:
A Survey Of Automatic Digital Computers 1953,
Office of Naval Research, Washington D.C.
Digital Computer Newsletter, Office of Naval Research, Physical Sciences Division, 1949
"Makin’ Numbers: Howard Aiken and the Computer,” edited by I. Bernard Cohen and Gregory W. Welch, with Robert V.D. Campbell, MIT Press, 1999
"Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age," MIT Press, 2009, Kurt W. Beyer
Fair Harvard, Samuel Chamberlain, Donald Moffat, Harvard Univ. Press, 1949
Oral History Collection, Grace Hopper, Smithsonian
Oral History Transcript of Grace Hopper, Computer History Museum
Oral History Robert D. Campbell, Charles Babbage Institute
Oral History Richard Milton Bloch, Computer History Museum
The Annals of the Computation Laboratory of Harvard University, Vol XXVI, Proceedings of a Second Symposium on Large-Scale Digital Calculating Machinery, Cambridge, Mass. 1951
New York Times article, August 8, 1944
Popular Mechanics Magazine, March, 1949, “Brains that Click,”
“The American Weekly” magazine, October 15, 1944, “Harvard’s Robot Super Brain”
TIME Magazine, January 20, 1947, pg. 48, “A Robot’s Job”
Computer History: IBM, Harvard University Mark 1, 3, 4, 5: Grace Hopper, Howard Aiken, at Harvard Computation Laboratory, worked on Secret Computing Machines in the early 1940's. Harvard Mark I, Harvard Mark II, III and IV computers are explored through vintage film and photos. Historical Harvard Computation Laboratory, Cambridge, Mass. was home to many computer pioneers, mathematicians, scientists and engineers. Aiken's machines were mechanical, electromechanical or combination, and finally electronic (Mark IV). His machines were the largest of their kind at the time, and produced fast numbers of calculations for the Navy and Air Force. The technology of the machines was made obsolete by the early 1950's as more advanced technologies were produced by others.
Of particular mention here are some of the achievements made by Lt. Grace Hopper (Dec. 9, 1906 – January 1, 1992), who worked with Howard Aiken on the Mark I, II and III computers. Hopper went on to work on more advanced systems after her time at Harvard.
This presentation explores some of the background of the four Aiken machines and the people who were instrumental in their construction. Locations include Harvard University, Cruft Laboratory, Cambridge, Mass., Endicott, New York, Dahlgren, Virginia. (The old Aiken Computation Laboratory of 1948 was demolished in 1997, and replaced with the modern Maxwell-Dworking Laboratory in 1999, which was funded by Bill Gates and Steven A. Ballmer.)
Runs 12 mins. Provided for educational purposes and historical comment only. - Computer History Archives Project (CHAP) (Not affiliated with Harvard Univ.)
Original films and material, courtesy of
IBM Archives
National Archives & Records Administration
Harvard University Archives
Computer History Museum
American Natural History Museum/Smithsonian
Naval History and Heritage Command
See Also Video: Harvard moves the Mark 1 Computer (Aiken's Calculator, IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), in 2021:
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/07/harvards-mark-1-finds-its-new-home/
Additional References:
A Survey Of Automatic Digital Computers 1953,
Office of Naval Research, Washington D.C.
Digital Computer Newsletter, Office of Naval Research, Physical Sciences Division, 1949
"Makin’ Numbers: Howard Aiken and the Computer,” edited by I. Bernard Cohen and Gregory W. Welch, with Robert V.D. Campbell, MIT Press, 1999
"Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age," MIT Press, 2009, Kurt W. Beyer
Fair Harvard, Samuel Chamberlain, Donald Moffat, Harvard Univ. Press, 1949
Oral History Collection, Grace Hopper, Smithsonian
Oral History Transcript of Grace Hopper, Computer History Museum
Oral History Robert D. Campbell, Charles Babbage Institute
Oral History Richard Milton Bloch, Computer History Museum
The Annals of the Computation Laboratory of Harvard University, Vol XXVI, Proceedings of a Second Symposium on Large-Scale Digital Calculating Machinery, Cambridge, Mass. 1951
New York Times article, August 8, 1944
Popular Mechanics Magazine, March, 1949, “Brains that Click,”
“The American Weekly” magazine, October 15, 1944, “Harvard’s Robot Super Brain”
TIME Magazine, January 20, 1947, pg. 48, “A Robot’s Job”
