John Vincent Atanasoff

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John Vincent Atanasoff,

Early life and education

Atanasoff was born on October 4, 1903, in

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Partly due to the drudgery of using the mechanical

Atanasoff first met John 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]} In 1941 Atanasoff left Iowa State for a wartime assignment as Chief of the Acoustic Division with the Naval Ordnance Laboratory (NOL) in Washington, D.C.^[6] No patent application for the ABC was subsequently filed by Iowa State College.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[11]

By 1945 the

Between 1954 and 1973, Atanasoff was a witness in the legal actions brought by various parties to invalidate electronic computing patents issued to 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.

Postwar life

Following

In 1960 Atanasoff and his wife Alice moved to their hilltop farm in New Market, Maryland for their retirement.^{[citation needed]} In 1961 he started another company, Cybernetics Incorporated, in Frederick, Maryland which he operated for 20 years.^{[citation needed]} He developed a phonetic alphabet for computers during this period of his life.^[6] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Atanasoff died at the age of 91 on June 15, 1995, of a stroke at his home after a lengthy illness.^[6] He is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Mount Airy, Maryland.^{[citation needed]}

Heritage

Atanasoff visited

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.^[15]

In 1990, President

• Cosmos Club membership (1957) [17]
• Computer Pioneer Medal from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (1981)^[6]
• Order of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, First Class (1985)^[15]
• Computing Appreciation Award, EDUCOM (1985)^[18]
• Foreign Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (1985)^[19]
• Honorary citizen of the city of Yambol, Bulgaria (1985; Atanasoff's father was born in Yambol region)^[19]
• Iowa Award (2001)[20]

Named after Atanasoff

• Atanasoff Nunatak (a peak) on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica^[21]
• The
  (3546) Atanasoff, discovered by the Rozhen Observatory^[22][23][24]
• The John Atanasoff Award, established by Georgi Parvanov in 2003 and bestowed annually by the President of Bulgaria to a young Bulgarian for achievements in the field of computer and information technologies and the information society of Bulgaria^[25][26]
• The John Atanasoff Technical College in the Bulgarian city of
  Technical University of Sofia^[27]
• The John Atanasoff Bulgarian national tournament in informatics and information technologies, held in the city of Shumen annually since 2001^[28]
• The John Atanasoff Professional High School of Electronics in the city of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria^[29]
• The John Atanasoff Professional High School of Electronics in Sofia^[30]
• The John Atanasoff Chitalishte (community cultural centre), Sofia^[31]
• The John Atanasoff Chitalishte, Boyadzhik Village, Bulgaria (the birthplace of Atanasoff's father)^[32]
• Prof. John Atanasoff 4th Primary School, Sofia^[33]
• The John Atanasoff Private High School, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria^[34]
• The John Atanasoff Professional Technical High School, Kyustendil, Bulgaria^[35]
• The John Atanasoff Bulgarian Language School, Chicago, Illinois,^[36]
• The John Atanasoff Professional High School of Economic Informatics, Targovishte, Bulgaria^[37]
• The John Atanasoff University Student Computer Club,
  Plovdiv University, Bulgaria^[38]
• John Atanasoff Street, Yambol, Bulgaria[39]
• John Atanasoff Street, Sofia^[40]

Selected bibliography

• Atanasoff, John V. (July–September 1984). "Advent of the Electronic Digital Computing".
  S2CID 34553374
  .
• Atanasoff, John V. (1985). "The Beginning". Sofia: Narodna Mladezh Publishers. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) (Bulgarian version of his 1984 paper).

See also

• List of pioneers in computer science
• Claude Shannon
• Victor Shestakov
• George Stibitz
• Konrad Zuse

References

Citations

1. ISBN 0837901596
   . Retrieved January 22, 2020 – via Internet Archive.
2. ^ Invitation to Computer Science. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
3. ^ "John Vincent Atanasoff - the father of the computer". www.columbia.edu. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
4. ^ Kiplinger's Personal Finance. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
5. ^ Portraits in Silicon. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Walter R. Baranger (June 17, 1995). "John V. Atanasoff, 91, Dies; Early Computer Researcher". The New York Times.
7. ^ Atanasoff 1985.
8. ISBN 9856701872
   .
9. ISBN 954071849X
   .
10. ISBN 9549942244
    .
11. ^ Mollenhoff 1988, p. 62–66.
12. ^ Mollenhoff 1988, pp. 81–86.
13. ^ "Biography of John Atanasoff". president.bg. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
14. ^ "Minor Planet Center, object 3546". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
15. ^ ^{a b} "Prof. Kiril Boyanov. John Vincent Atanasoff – The Inventor of the First Electronic Digital Computing" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
16. ^ "Honoring Dr. John Atanasoff on the One Hundredth Anniversary of His Birth". Congressional Record – Extensions of Remarks. October 30, 2003. pp. E2159–2160. Retrieved May 15, 2009.
17. ^ Loevinger, Vee (1996). "The Inventor of the Electronic Computer--The Cosmos Club Member Who Changed Our World". Cosmos Journal. 6. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
18. S2CID 28795679
    .
19. ^ ^{a b} Yambol Province Government. Archived June 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Website (in Bulgarian)
20. ^ Boshart, Rod (May 30, 2014). "Kenneth Quinn presented the Iowa Award". Muscatine Journal. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
21. ^ "SCAR Composite Antarctic Gazetteer entry". Data.aad.gov.au. March 15, 2002. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
22. ^ "Minor Planet Names: Alphabetical List". Cfa.harvard.edu. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
23. ^ Schmadel 2000.
24. ^ National Military University Archived January 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Website (in Bulgarian)
25. ^ "John Atanasoff Award". Archived from the original on June 10, 2008.
26. ^ Bestowing the 2005 John Atanasoff Award. Archived June 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Iowa State University website.
27. ^ John Atanasoff Technical College
28. ^ The 7th John Atanasoff Tournament. Darik News website (in Bulgarian)
29. ^ John Atanasoff Professional High School of Electronics, Stara Zagora Archived January 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
30. ^ "John Atanasoff Professional High School of Electronics, Sofia". Archived from the original on June 10, 2008.
31. ^ Atanas Georgiev. "John Atanasoff Chitalishte, Sofia". Chitalishte.bg. Archived from the original on April 18, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
32. ^ Atanas Georgiev. "John Atanasoff Chitalishte, Boyadzhik". Chitalishte.bg. Archived from the original on October 25, 2007. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
33. ^ Prof. John Atanasoff Primary School, Sofia. Picture
34. ^ "ยืนยัน otp รับเครดิตฟรี50 ไม่ต้องแชร์ – Official Website". Archived from the original on February 16, 2008.
35. ^ Страницата е генерирана за 0.55 сек. на 08.02.2014 02:54. "John Atanasoff Professional Technical High School, Kyustendil". Schools.pomagalo.com. Retrieved February 8, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
36. ^ John Atanasoff Bulgarian Language School Website
37. ^ John Atanasoff Professional High School of Economic Informatics, Targovishte
38. ^ "John Atanasoff University Student Computer Club, Plovdiv University". Archived from the original on October 24, 2007.
39. ^ "John Atanasoff Street, Yambol addressee". Nts-yambol.org. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
40. ^ "John Atanasoff Street, Sofia addressee". Mall.neogen.bg. Archived from the original on June 10, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2014.

Works cited

• ISBN 978-0-8138-0032-5
  – via Internet Archive.
• Schmadel, Lutz D. (2000). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer-Verlag Telos.
  ISBN 978-3540662921
  .

Further reading

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (June 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

• Anellis, Irving H. (January 1997). "John Vincent Atanasoff—His Place in the History of Computer Logic and Technology". Modern Logic. 7 (1). Retrieved June 4, 2015.
• ISBN 978-0-472-10090-3
  .
• ISBN 978-1-59102-034-9
  .
• S2CID 14205498
  .
• Burton, Tammara (2006). World Changer. Sofia, Bulgaria: Tangra TanNakRa Publishing. p. 271.
• Do, Hien Chris. "John Vincent Atanasoff". Virginia Tech. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
• doi:10.1063/1.881101
  .
• Mackintosh, Allan R. (August 1988). "Dr. Atanasoff's Computer". Scientific American. 259 (2): 90–96.
  PMID 3064298. Archived from the original
  on October 31, 2009.
• ISSN 1058-6180
  .
• OCLC 502029794
  – via Internet Archive.

Media

• Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Hollar, John (January 27, 2011). Revolutionaries: The Man Who Invented the Computer with Author Jane Smiley. YouTube (video). Mountain View, California: Computer History Museum. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
• Kang, Cecilia (November 18, 2010). After Words with Jane Smiley. C-span.org (video). National Cable Satellite Corporation. Retrieved June 4, 2015.

Obituaries

• Parashkevov, Atanas (June 1995). "John V. Atanasoff: Obituary".
  Virtual Museum of Computing. Archived from the original
  on September 17, 2009.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Vincent Atanasoff.

• JohnAtanasoff.com
• John Atansoff at the Augustana College website
• Atanasoff, Father of the Computer trailer at EyeSteelFilm
• John Vincent Atanasoff at the Iowa State University website
• John Vincent Atanasoff at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
• Author profile in the database
  zbMATH
• Works by or about John Vincent Atanasoff at Internet Archive
• John Vincent Atanasoff at Find a Grave