State Historical Society of Iowa

"The Invention of the Electronic Digital Computer" from The Palimpsest, September/October 1984

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Courtesy of State Historical Society of Iowa, Silag, William, "The Invention of the Electronic Digital Computer," The Palimpsest, Vol. 65, No. 5, pp. 159-177, September/October 1984

Description

This 1984 article from The Palimpsest focuses on the invention of the electronic digital computer by Iowa State College (now Iowa State University) mathematics and physics Professor John Vincent Atanasoff with the help of his graduate student Clifford Berry. Their invention is credited as the world's first computer.

Source Dependent Questions

  • As you read, list the qualities of John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry that contributed to the invention of the electronic digital computer, alongside the textual evidence that leads you to your answer.
  • Describe Atanasoff and Berry's first prototype of their computer. What did it look like? What was it able to do? How did it work?

Citation Information

Tilton, George R., "Claire Cameron Patterson: 1922-1995," 1998. Courtesy of National Academy of Sciences Courtesy of Library of Congress