Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC)
The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was a groundbreaking all-electronic computer developed during the early 1940s, a period when the predominance of analog devices was widely accepted. Proposed by Professor John William Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania, the concept of a vacuum-tube-based calculator was initially dismissed but gained traction due to the urgent computational needs of World War II. The U.S. Army's Ballistics Research Laboratory sought faster methods to generate firing tables for artillery, prompting them to support Mauchly and his colleague John Presper Eckert in the creation of ENIAC.
Completed in 1946, ENIAC marked a significant advancement in computing technology, demonstrating the efficiency and accuracy of electronic computing over mechanical systems. This massive machine consisted of forty nine-foot-tall cabinets, weighed thirty tons, and operated using decimal rather than binary notation. Although it was ultimately completed after the war, ENIAC's successful applications included early computerized weather forecasts and laid the groundwork for the development of smaller digital computers in the years that followed. Its legacy endures as a pivotal moment in the history of computing, highlighting the transformative impact of electronic technology on various fields.
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Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC)
Identification The world’s first general-purpose electronic computer
Completed in 1946, the ENIAC marked the dawn of modern computer science and the twilight of analog computing.
The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) was built during a time when the idea of an all-electronic computer was virtually inconceivable. In the early 1940’s, it was commonly held that analog computational devices, such as the differential analyzer (which used wheel-and-disc mechanisms to perform integrations), were the wave of the future. When, in 1942, University of Pennsylvania professor John William Mauchly proposed to the directors of his institution a plan to build a vacuum-tube-based calculator, his idea was immediately dismissed.
If not for the demands of World War II, computing would have followed a vastly different path. To be used effectively, the large artillery pieces employed by the U.S. Army needed firing tables: exhaustive charts showing how to make aiming adjustments for factors including humidity, windage, and ground softness. The Ballistics Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) in Maryland employed both human mathematicians and differential analyzers for this purpose, but they could not produce tables quickly enough. APG’s impatience with these methods led it to take a gamble and hire Mauchly andJohn Presper Eckert, a fellow instructor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Electrical Engineering and champion of Mauchly’s all-electronic idea, to head the creation of ENIAC in 1943.
Impact
Completed in 1946 and used in many experiments thereafter, including the first computerized weather forecasts, ENIAC came too late to provide any support during the war. However, its accuracy and speed did conclusively prove the superiority of electronic computing to mechanical computing, paving the way for subsequent smaller digital computers. ENIAC consisted of forty nine-foot-tall cabinets, weighed thirty tons, and used decimal notation instead of the binary notation used by modern computers.
Bibliography
Hally, Mike. Electronic Brains: Stories from the Dawn of the Computer Age. Washington, D.C.: Joseph Henry Press, 2005.
McCartney, Scott. ENIAC: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the World’s First Computer. New York: Walker, 1999.