Christopher Jones
ITEC 400
Professor Dilts
23 January 2011
 Born October 4, 1903 in Hamilton, New
York
 Father was a Bulgarian immigrant who
worked as a electrical engineer
 Mother was of American Irish descent and
worked as a mathematics school teacher.
 Spent majority of childhood in Florida
where he gained a passion for electricity
and mathematic principles
 B.S. - University of Florida, Electrical
Engineering (1925)
 M.A.-Iowa State University, Mathematics
(1926)
 PhD.- University of Wisconsin, Theoretical
Physics (1930)
(1903-1995)
 Known as the “Father of the Electronic
Digital Computer”
 Prototype named the ABC computer
after the founders; Atanasoff and his
assistant Clifford Berry
 In the late 1930s, John Atanasoff was
“still trying to develop ways to facilitate
the process of calculating solutions to
the extended systems of linear algebraic
equations that were applicable to his
research work. He became convinced
that the digital approach offered
considerable advantages over the slower
and less accurate analog machines”
(www.johnatanasoff.com)
 In December of 1939, working with his
graduate student Clifford Berry, John
Atanasoff “developed and built the
prototype of the first electronic digital
computer, which would be fully
completed in 1942”.
Prototype Drawing circa 1939
 Astansoff envisioned the machine:
 Use base-two numbers (the binary system) - all other experimental systems at the
time used base-ten
 Use electricity and electronics as it's principal media
 Use condensers for memory and use a regenerative process to avoid lapses that could
occur from leakage of power
 Compute by direct logical action rather than by the enumeration methods used in
analog calculators (http://www.angelfire.com)
 The prototype created was the first computing machine to:
 Use electricity
 Had vacuum tubes
 Used binary numbers and capacitors (capacitors were in rotating drum that held the
electrical charge for memory
 The team was awarded an $850 grant to build the full scale model
 In two years, the final product was the size of a desk, weighed 700 pounds and
had over 300 vacuum tubes, and contained a mile of wire.
 It could calculate one operation every 15 seconds; compared to modern
computers which can process 150 billion operations in the same time frame.
Dr. Atanasoff, along with his assistant,
are responsible for setting the foundation in
the development of electronic digital
computers. With their determination,
willingness to accepting risk, coupled with
their ingenuity and the want for simplicity,
developed a system that has continually
been improved upon since the introduction
of the first prototype. We would not be
where we are today if it had not been for a
man’s vision that became a reality.
Atanasoff and Berry’s invention is the
definition of gestalt. Considering that it was
the first electronic digital computer, they
developed several other components (i.e.
memory storage) for the system to work as a
whole. One component would not operate
without relying on another. It was the
necessity of those individual parts to make
the whole.
Atanasoff is known as the “father of the digital
computer”. It is possible, had he not developed the
ABC computer, that it would have been developed
by someone else, at least something similar with
the same functionality. Atanasoff just happened to
be the one who took the leap of faith and changed
the history of how we process information. This is
what’s so intriguing about the IT field. We are
consistently developing new ways to make life
easier by taking the technologies we have and
finding ways to make them better.
 In 1940, a colleague of Dr. Atanasoff by the name of Dr.
John Mauchly took a strong interest in his design and later
tried to replicate it in his own development of the ENIAC
(Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). As a
result, a patent lawsuit was filed and was in favor of Dr.
Atanasoff. (http://www.angelfire.com)
 Dr. Atanasoff was delayed from completing his project in
1942 when he was called to serve his county in the Navy
during WW II.
 These are both major events that could have been
detrimental to the completion of Dr. Atanasoff’s ABC
electronic digital computer.
Atanasoff said…
"I have always taken the
position that there is enough
credit for everyone in the
invention and development
of the electronic computer" John Atanasoff
(http://inventors.about.com)
 Biography of John Astonoff. History of Computers: hardware, software,
internet… (2011) Georgi Delokov. Retrieved January 17, 2011 from
http://history-computer.com/People/AtanasoffBio.html
 The Prototype: History. John Atanasoff. The man who invented the
computer. (2011). Retrieved January 20, 2011 from
http://www.johnatanasoff.com/the_prototype.php?sub=history
 Personal quote. Inventors of the Modern Computer. The AtanasoffBerry Computer the First Electronic Computer . (2011). Retrieved
January 20, 2011 from
http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa050898.htm?once=true&
 Inventor. Atanasoff envisioned…People in Computing. John Vincent
Atanasoff-Forgotten Father of Computers. Matthews, K. (2010).
Retrieved January 20, 2011 from
http://www.angelfire.com/ma/kilenm/2k03ppl.html.