John von Neumann
In a widely circulated paper, mathematician John von Neumann outlines the architecture of a stored-program computer, including electronic storage of programming information and data -- which eliminates the need for more clumsy methods of programming such as plugboards, punched cards and paper. Hungarian-born von Neumann demonstrated prodigious expertise in hydrodynamics, ballistics, meteorology, game theory, statistics, and the use of mechanical devices for computation. After the war, he concentrated on the development of Princeton´s Institute for Advanced Studies computer.
Konrad Zuse
Konrad Zuse begins work on Plankalkül (Plan Calculus), the first algorithmic programming language, with the goal of creating the theoretical preconditions for the solution of general problems. Seven years earlier, Zuse had developed and built the world´s first binary digital computer, the Z1. He completed the first fully functional program-controlled electromechanical digital computer, the Z3, in 1941. Only the Z4 — the most sophisticated of his creations — survived World War II.
Microfilm screens on top of Memex desk
With side-by-side screens, the imaginary Memex desk is meant to let a user compare and create links between microfilm documents, somewhat like today’s clickable Web links and bookmarks. The idea is that people will continually build on each other's associative trails through the world's knowledge, helping tackle the growing problem of information overload. The Memex is the brainchild of top U.S. scientist Vannevar Bush, an analog computing pioneer who had helped oversee development of the atomic bomb. The basic mechanism he suggests is a microfilm automatic selector similar to those built by optics pioneer Emmanuel Goldberg in the early 1930s. Bush publicizes the Memex concept in 1945 articles in The Atlantic Monthly and Life.
