THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 4, 1996 TAG: 9603010026
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
A Feb. 14 article recognized the 50th anniversary of the world's first electronic computer: the ENIAC. However, the article did not state that the ENIAC was built at the Ballistic Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and was funded by the Ordnance Corps of the United States Army.
The ENIAC was built under the supervision of Col. Leslie Simon, commander of BRL, who later retired as a major general. John VonNeiman, a highly respected mathematician in the Pennsylvania University System, was one of the main consultants on the design of the ENIAC. Perhaps that is why the 50th anniversary is being celebrated in Philadelphia.
Some interesting observations about the ENIAC:
1. Because it was operated with thousands of vacuum tubes, it generated so much heat that air conditioning the equipment and the room which it occupied was very difficult.
2. Burnout of vacuum tubes was such a problem that RCA developed a line of long-life tubes for this application.
3. There was very limited memory in the computer, which restricted some problem solving.
4. As stated in your article, this first electronic computer was a giant step forward and led the way to the computer industry we have today.
ERWIN GRAHAM
Major general, U.S. Army (ret.)
Virginia Beach, Feb. 17, 1996 by CNB