CS2642 & SWE2643 Computers and Society/Professional Practices and Ethics
Lecture 6--Five Times One Thousand
© 2001 Richard Halstead-Nussloch, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved
Overview
Five Times One Thousand
1944
Programming the ENIAC
The women who programmed the ENIAC
ENIAC’s debut
Summary
1944
February--blueprints and wiring diagrams complete; construction begins
Ideas for a bigger and better computer from Eckert and Mauchly
June--
Invasion at Normandy
Two accumulators working
The tide was turning
Programming the ENIAC
Actually system configuration through plugging units together
Units mounted on wheels
Took weeks of planning
Took days of set up
"The ENIAC was a son-of-a-bitch to program" Jean Bartik
But, it worked
The Women Who Programmed the ENIAC--Chosen from the Computers
Frances Bilas Spence
Jean Bartik
Ruth Lichterman Teitelbaum
Kathleen McNulty
Elizabeth Snyder Holberton
Marlyn Wescoff Meltzer
Worked with Aberdeen
Tamed the Differential Analyzer first
Had a major influence on the project
Work was "most exciting of career
Considered clerks
Grist Brainerd Fights for Control of the ENIAC Project
Given responsibility for Moore School side
Considered the ENIAC harebrained
In 1944, saw it might work
Developed first public report in secret
Eight months later, Eckert & Mauchly found out
Brainerd "hid" the report
Warren (a friend of Brainerd) interceded and forced the three to work together
ENIAC’s Belated--but Impressive--Debut
Fall of 1945
War was over
ENIAC ready after 200K Person Hours and about half a million dollars
Impressive stats
Used to solve h-bomb problem (still classified)
Debut--trajectory problem--bug solved in the middle of the night by Elizabeth Holberton
Debuted in February 1946
Soviets wanted one
Summary
Five Times One Thousand
1944
Programming the ENIAC
The women who programmed the ENIAC
ENIAC’s debut
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