CS2642 & SWE2643 Computers and Society/Professional Practices and Ethics
Lecture 4--Crunched by Numbers
© 2001 Richard Halstead-Nussloch, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved
Overview
Crunched by Numbers
The situation faced by the United States
Project Y
Players
The proposal
The presentation
The win
Summary
The situation faced by the United States
The enemy was winning
New guns were being produced fast
New shells were being produced fast
New firing tables were being produced slowly
Herman Goldstine needed to speed up production of firing tables
Project Y
Also known as the Manhattan Project
Aberdeen personnel--Project Y was "too far out"
FDR-- "Fund it"
Used in World War II?
Players
Lt. Herman Goldstine--Needed firing tables fast
John Grist Brainerd--U Penn administrator
Colonel Leslie E. Simon--Director of Ballistics Research Lab at Aberdeen
Oswald Veblen--Technical advisor to the army, friend of Einstein
Pres Eckert
John Mauchly
Oswald Veblen b. 24 June 1880 d. 10 Aug 1960
http://www.discovery.utexas.edu/rlm/photos/veblen_o.html
First Fellow of the Princeton University Institute of Advanced Studies
Who/what else at IAS?
The Proposal
Reconstructed Mauchly memo to the Moore School Dean
Mauchly? Eckert?
Goldstine?
Brainerd?
Simon?
Veblen?
The Presentation
Made Eckert and Mauchly miss lunch
Was made by Goldstine
Made use of the then familiar concepts of electrons and electronics
Was cut short by Veblen who said: "Simon, give Goldstine the money."
The Win
Project PX
W-670-ORD-4926 for $61,700 in 6 months
Eckert and Mauchly Named: Electronic Numerical Integrator
Col. Paul Gillon: Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC)
Summary
Crunched by Numbers
The situation faced by the United States
Project Y
Players
The proposal
The presentation
The win
Midterm Idea
Distribute three lists:
People, e.g., Pres Eckert and John Mauchly
Dates, e.g., 1946
Events, e.g., unveiling of ENIAC
For a C: Put the dates, people, and events together with reasonable accuracy
For a B: Add a column that shows your references. Use at least five reference sources
Midterm Idea
Example Link that Y’all Have Already Established