The author refutes a misinterpretation of a computer pioneer's statements on the versatility of the computer and explains how context crucial to a proper understanding of the statements was overlooked.
[1] 35 M. Davis, The Universal Computer: The Road from Leibniz to Turing, Norton, 2000, p. 140.
[2] G.C. Chase, "History of Mechanical Computing Machinery," Proc. 1952 ACM National Meeting (Pittsburgh), ACM Press, 1952, p. 26; reprinted (with a foreword by I.B. Cohen) in Annals of the History of Computing, vol. 2, no. 3, July-Sept. 1980, pp. 198-226.
[3] Aiken in interview with I.B. Cohen and H. Tropp (1973), reported in I.B. Cohen,Howard Aiken: Portrait of a Computer Pioneer, MIT Press, 1999, p. 42.
[4] H. Aiken, "The Future of Automatic Computing Machinery," Elektronische Rechenmaschinen und Informationsverarbeitung [Electronic Digital Computers and Information Processing], A. Walther and W. Hoffmann, eds., F. Vieweg, 1957.
[5] P.E. Ceruzzi, Reckoners: The Prehistory of the Digital Computer, from Relays to the Stored Program Concept, 1935— 1945, Greenwood Press, 1983, p. 43.
[6] Ceruzzi gives the title of the volume as Elektronische Rechenanlage und Informationsverarbeitung and the year of publication as 1956.
[7] In 1955, Aiken's Computation Laboratory at Harvard University was investigating the potential of the computer for business data processing in a number of key areas, including the gas and electric industries. Some relevant reports follow: Computation Laboratory of Harvard Univ., "Chart Representations of Data Processing Systems," Automatic Data Processing, Progress Report No. 1 by the staff to the American Gas Association and Edison Electric Inst., 1955; Computation Laboratory of Harvard Univ., "Chart Representations of Data Processing Systems II: The Abstract Data Processing System," Automatic Data Processing,Progress Report No. 2 by the staff to the American Gas Association and Edison Electric Inst., 1955; and Computation Laboratory of Harvard Univ., "A New Basic Approach to Automatic Data Processing," Automatic Data Processing, Progress Report No. 3 by the staff to the American Gas Association and Edison Electric Inst., 1956. (I am grateful to Tony Oettinger for this information [personal communications, 2000 and 2002].)
[8] H. Aiken, "The Future of Automatic Computing Machinery," pp. 32-33.
[9] Ibid, p. 33.
[10] An editorial footnote to Aiken's paper states, "This paper is a transcription from magnetic tape, it has not been revised by the author."
Index Terms:
Aiken, Davis, Turing, Universal Machine, History Of Business Computing, Harvard Mark I Computer, Ibm Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator
Citation:
B. Jack Copeland, "Unfair to Aiken," IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 35-37, Oct.-Dec. 2004, doi:10.1109/MAHC.2004.36
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