Atanasoff–Berry computer facts for kids
Atanasoff–Berry computer replica at Durham Center, Iowa State University
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| Developer | John Vincent Atanasoff with help of graduate student Clifford Berry |
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| Release date | 1942 |
| Units sold | 1 |
| CPU | More than 300 vacuum tubes @ 60 Hz |
| Memory | 3000 bits |
| Display | Decimal, via a front panel display |
| Input | Decimal, via standard IBM 80-column punched cards |
| Weight | 700 pounds (320 kg) |
The Atanasoff–Berry computer (ABC) was a very early electronic digital computer. It was the first machine to use vacuum tubes to do math calculations. This made it much faster than older computers that used mechanical parts.
The ABC was not like the computers we use today. It could not be programmed to do different tasks. It was built for one special job: solving tough math problems called "systems of linear equations." Even so, it helped pave the way for modern computers.
Contents
What Was the ABC?
The ABC was thought up in 1937 by John Vincent Atanasoff, a math and physics professor at Iowa State University. His graduate student, Clifford Berry, helped him build it. They finished testing it successfully in 1942.
The computer was designed to solve complex math problems with many variables. However, the part that saved temporary results, a paper card reader/writer, didn't work perfectly. When Atanasoff left for World War II, work on the ABC stopped.
Even though it wasn't finished, the ABC introduced important ideas. These included using binary arithmetic (a number system with only 0s and 1s) and electronic switches. These ideas are key parts of all modern computers. In 1990, the ABC was recognized as an IEEE Milestone for its importance.
The ABC's Place in History
For a long time, the ABC's work was not widely known. This changed in the 1960s during legal fights over who invented the first electronic computer. At that time, the ENIAC computer was thought to be the first.
But in 1973, a U.S. court decided that the ENIAC's inventors had used ideas from Atanasoff's work. This meant the ABC was recognized as a very important early electronic digital computer. Later, the Colossus computer from World War II was also revealed. It was another early electronic computer that used similar vacuum tube technology.
How Was the ABC Built?
John Atanasoff said he got the main ideas for the ABC during a long drive in 1937–38. Some of these big ideas included:
- Using electronics for calculations.
- Using binary numbers.
- Doing many calculations at once (parallel processing).
- Using special memory made of capacitors.
- Keeping memory and computing parts separate.
Atanasoff worked out the design over the next year. He got money to build a test model in 1939. More funding came from a group called the Research Corporation.
Atanasoff and Berry built the ABC in the basement of the physics building at Iowa State College. The first small test model was shown in October 1939. This led to more money to build the full-size machine.
By January 1941, the ABC was announced in a newspaper. It had over 300 vacuum tubes and could solve "complicated algebraic equations." The machine weighed more than 700 pounds (320 kg). It had about 1-mile (1.6 km) of wire and was about the size of a desk.
The ABC was not a general-purpose computer. It could not be programmed to do different tasks. This was different from other early computers like the Z3 and the Colossus computer. It also didn't use a "stored-program architecture," which is how modern computers store instructions.
However, the ABC was the first to use:
- Vacuum tubes for calculations, making it much faster than older machines with mechanical parts.
- Capacitors for memory, which also made it faster and allowed for more data in a smaller space.
The ABC's memory system was called regenerative capacitor memory. It used two spinning drums, each with 1600 capacitors. These drums spun once per second. The capacitors were organized into 32 groups, allowing the machine to do 30 additions or subtractions every second. It could store 60 numbers at a time, each 50 bits long.
The main parts that did the math (the "arithmetic logic functions") were all electronic, using vacuum tubes. The control parts, which didn't need to be as fast, used electromechanical relays.
The ABC could not run completely by itself. A person had to operate switches to tell it what to do. This was similar to other calculating machines of that time.
The ABC had two ways to get information in and out. For temporary results, it wrote binary numbers onto paper sheets. These sheets could be read or written in one second. This allowed it to work on problems too big for its electronic memory.
For users, the ABC took in numbers in decimal form using standard IBM punched cards. It showed the final answers in decimal form on a display panel.
What Did the ABC Do?
The ABC was made for one special job: solving systems of simultaneous linear equations. These are complex math problems with many unknown values. It could handle problems with up to 29 equations, which was a very difficult task for computers at that time.
George W. Snedecor, who led the Statistics Department at Iowa State, was likely the first person to use an electronic digital computer to solve real-world math problems. He gave many of these problems to Atanasoff to solve on the ABC.
Who Invented the Electronic Computer?
In 1947, J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly applied for a patent for their digital computer, the ENIAC. This surprised Atanasoff. John Mauchly had visited Atanasoff and seen the ABC in 1941.
Later, in 1967, a company called Honeywell sued Sperry Rand (who owned the ENIAC patent). Honeywell argued that the ABC was invented first and that the ENIAC used its ideas.
On October 19, 1973, a U.S. court made an important decision. Judge Earl R. Larson ruled that the ENIAC patent was not valid. He said that Eckert and Mauchly did not invent the first automatic electronic digital computer themselves. Instead, they got many basic ideas from John Vincent Atanasoff.
This court case officially recognized the Atanasoff–Berry computer as a very early and influential electronic digital computer.
The ABC Today
The original ABC was taken apart in 1948. Most of its parts were thrown away, except for one memory drum.
In 1997, a team of scientists led by Dr. Delwyn Bluhm and John Gustafson built a working copy (replica) of the Atanasoff–Berry computer. It cost about $350,000 to build.
This replica was shown at the Durham Center at Iowa State University. It was also displayed at the Computer History Museum, so people can still see what this pioneering machine looked like.
See also
In Spanish: Atanasoff Berry Computer para niños
- History of computing hardware
- List of vacuum-tube computers
- Mikhail Kravchuk
