Computer History Museum

In this oral history, Alan and Henrietta Leiner tell about the work that they did for the U.S. government in Washington, D.C. at the National Bureau of Standards, where three pioneering computers were designed. In 1950 the first of these computers, the SEAC, was put into operation. It operated successfully for many years, using programs that were stored within the machine. In 1952 the second computer, the DYSEAC, was completed and was installed in a trailer van, thus making it a mobile computer. It was capable of interacting in real time with a variety of external devices, including the SEAC. In 1959 these capabilities were expanded in the PILOT, whose system included a network of three independent computers capable of working together concurrently on a common problem. Alan Leiner and his staff devised the logical design of these pioneering computers. He and Henrietta Leiner subsequently undertook a second career, investigating the computing structures in the human brain, which led to a surprising discovery about the brain structures that contribute to the cognitive capabilities of humans.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102618634
Leiner (Alan and Henrietta) oral history

At Bell Laboratories in 1977, Ken Thompson (best known as the co-creator of the Unix operating system) and Joe Condon designed and built Belle, a dedicated chess-playing machine connected to a minicomputer. Belle's custom hardware and endgame database revolutionized computer chess.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102630664
Thompson (Ken) oral history

Len Shustek reviews his educational background in computer science (master and doctor of philosophy, Stanford University) by way of physics (bachelor and master of science, Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, NY). After graduation, he joined the faculty at Carnegie-Mellon University as an assistant professor of computer science. In 1979, he co-founded Nestar Systems Inc., an early producer of networked client-server computer systems. In 1986, he co-founded Network General Corporation, a manufacturer of network analysis tools, notably The Sniffer. He now teaches occasionally as a consulting professor at Stanford University, and is a partner at VenCraft, a small "angel financing" venture capital fund.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102635811
Shustek, Len (Leonard J.) oral history

Five interviews about the IBM 305 RAMAC computer and disk drive. James N. Porter is the interviewer for all five sessions. An appendix containing supplemental articles, reports, and other materials is also available with the transcripts of these interviews. The interviews are as follows: Video Interview 1: RAMAC Planning: Louis D. Stevens, John M. (Jack) Harker, and Thomas G Leary [00:19 to 49:10] Video Interview 2: RAMAC Development: Louis D. Stevens, John M. (Jack) Harker and Alan F. Shugart [49:30 to 1:20:34] Video Interview 3: Advanced Disk File: Louis D. Stevens, John M. (Jack) Harker and Alan F. Shugart [1:21:12 to 1:49:02] Video Interview 4: RAMAC Hardware: Louis D. Stevens, William Crooks and Norman Vogel [1:49:04 to 2:30:48] Video Interview 5: RAMAC Servomechanical: Louis D. Stevens and Wesley Edward Dickinson [2:33:00 to 3:00:28] Appendix - supplemental articles, reports, and other materials related to the interviews above.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVD
Catalogue number
102651515
RAMAC oral history project

John Backus led a team at IBM in 1957 that created the first successful high-level programming language, FORTRAN. It was designed to solve problems in science and engineering, and many dialects of the language are still in use throughout the world. Describing the development of FORTRAN, Backus said "We simply made up the language as we went along. We did not regard language design as a difficult problem, merely a simple prelude to the real problem: designing a compiler which could produce efficient programs...We also wanted to eliminate a lot of the bookkeeping and detailed, repetitive planning which hand coding involved." The name FORTRAN comes from FORmula TRANslation. The language was designed for solving engineering and scientific problems. FORTRAN IV was first introduced by IBM in the early 1960s and still exists in a number of similar dialects on machines from various manufacturers.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102657954
Backus, John oral history

Robert Elliot "Bob" Kahn is an American elctrical engineer, who, along with Vint Cerf, invented the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP), the fundamental communication protocols at the heart of the Internet. In 2004 Kahn won the A.M. turing Award, the highest honour in computer scinece, for the "pioneering work on internetworking, including the design and implementation of the Internet's basic communications protocols, TCP/IP, and for inspired leadership in networking."

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102657964
Kahn, Bob (Robert) oral history

<p>Robert (Bob) Metcalfe led invention, standardization, and commercialization of the Ethernet local-area networking system for personal computers (PCs). Metcalfe was born on April 7, 1946 in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1969 with bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and industrial management. At Harvard University in 1970, he earned his master's degree in applied mathematics. His 1973 Harvard Ph.D. dissertation, Packet Communication, came out of research on Arpanet at MIT Project MAC and on Alohanet at the University of Hawaii. In 1972, Metcalfe joined the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). He worked in the Computer Science Laboratory led by Jerry Elkind, Bob Taylor, Butler Lampson, and Chuck Thacker, who were developing early PCs. Metcalfe, in collaboration with David Boggs, invented and developed the Ethernet local-area network (LAN) and its system of packet protocols, which have proliferated and evolved to become today's Internet plumbing. In 1979, Metcalfe founded 3Com Corporation to promote "computer communication compatibility." 3Com initially developed PC LAN products based on emerging UNIX, TCP/IP, and Ethernet standards, went public in 1984, and grew into a billion-dollar networking company. Metcalfe served as the "marriage broker" who convinced DEC, Intel, and Xerox (DIX) to work together to promote Ethernet as an open standard.</p>

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102657992
Metcalfe, Bob (Robert M.) oral history, part 1 of 2

Edward Feigenbaum is a professor of Computer Science and co-scientific director of the Knowledge Systems Laboratory at Stanford University. Feigenbaum served as chief scientist of the United States Air Force from 1994 to 1997. Professor Feigenbaum was chairman of the Computer Science Department and director of the Computer Center at Stanford University. Until 1992, Feigenbaum was co-principal investigator of the national computer facility for applications of artificial intelligence to medicine and biology known as the SUMEX-AIM facility, established by the National Institute of Health (NIH) at Stanford University. He is past president of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. He has served on the National Science Foundation Computer Science Advisory Board, an ARPA study committee for Information Science and Technology; and on the National Research Council's Computer Science and Technology Board. He has been a member of the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine. He was the co-editor of the encyclopedia, The Handbook of Artificial Intelligence, and of the early book, Computers and Thought, published by McGraw-Hill. He is co-author of the McGraw-Hill book, Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Organic Chemistry: The DENDRAL Program and was the founding editor of the McGraw-Hill Computer Science Series. He is co-author with Pamela McCorduck of the book The Fifth Generation: Artificial Intelligence and Japan's Computer Challenge to the World, published by Addison-Wesley (1983) and by New American Library (1984). He is also co-author with Penny Nii and Pamela McCorduck of the book, The Rise of the Expert Company, on corporate successes in the use of expert systems, published by Times Books in New York and Macmillan in London (1988). He is a co-founder of three start-up firms in applied artificial intelligence, IntelliCorp, Teknowledge and Design Power Inc. and served as a member of the Board of Directors of IntelliCorp and Design Power Inc. He also was a member of the Board of Directors of Sperry Corporation prior to its merger with Burroughs. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Kansai Silicon Valley Venture Forum. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1986. In the same year, he was elected to the Productivity Hall of Fame of the Republic of Singapore. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, the honorary American College of Medical Informatics. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1991. He is the first recipient of the Feigenbaum Medal, an award established in his honor by the World Congress of Expert Systems. He was elected Fellow to the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering in January 1994. He was a recipient of the 1994 ACM Turing Award. He was named Kumagai Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University in 1995. He received the U.S. Air Force Exceptional Civilian Service Award in 1997.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102658035
Feigenbaum (Edward) oral history, interviewed by Donald Knuth : session one

In this wide-ranging interview conducted by Edward Feigenbaum, Donald Knuth talks about the progression of his life and career. Topics include his family background and early interest in music, physics and mathematics, his first exposure to programming, finding a mentor, and writing a doctoral thesis. He describes how "The Art of Computer Programming" became "the story of my life", and why it was put on hold for the TeX and METAFONT projects. He also talks about personal work habits, programming style, analysis of algorithms, the influence of religion in his life, and his advice to the next generation of scientists.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102658036
Knuth (Donald) oral history

Edward Feigenbaum is a professor of Computer Science and co-scientific director of the Knowledge Systems Laboratory at Stanford University. Feigenbaum served as chief scientist of the United States Air Force from 1994 to 1997. Professor Feigenbaum was chairman of the Computer Science Department and director of the Computer Center at Stanford University. Until 1992, Feigenbaum was co-principal investigator of the national computer facility for applications of artificial intelligence to medicine and biology known as the SUMEX-AIM facility, established by the National Institute of Health (NIH) at Stanford University. He is past president of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. He has served on the National Science Foundation Computer Science Advisory Board, an ARPA study committee for Information Science and Technology; and on the National Research Council's Computer Science and Technology Board. He has been a member of the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine. He was the co-editor of the encyclopedia, The Handbook of Artificial Intelligence, and of the early book, Computers and Thought, published by McGraw-Hill. He is co-author of the McGraw-Hill book, Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Organic Chemistry: The DENDRAL Program and was the founding editor of the McGraw-Hill Computer Science Series. He is co-author with Pamela McCorduck of the book The Fifth Generation: Artificial Intelligence and Japan's Computer Challenge to the World, published by Addison-Wesley (1983) and by New American Library (1984). He is also co-author with Penny Nii and Pamela McCorduck of the book, The Rise of the Expert Company, on corporate successes in the use of expert systems, published by Times Books in New York and Macmillan in London (1988). He is a co-founder of three start-up firms in applied artificial intelligence, IntelliCorp, Teknowledge and Design Power Inc. and served as a member of the Board of Directors of IntelliCorp and Design Power Inc. He also was a member of the Board of Directors of Sperry Corporation prior to its merger with Burroughs. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Kansai Silicon Valley Venture Forum. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1986. In the same year, he was elected to the Productivity Hall of Fame of the Republic of Singapore. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, the honorary American College of Medical Informatics. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1991. He is the first recipient of the Feigenbaum Medal, an award established in his honor by the World Congress of Expert Systems. He was elected Fellow to the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering in January 1994. He was a recipient of the 1994 ACM Turing Award. He was named Kumagai Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University in 1995. He received the U.S. Air Force Exceptional Civilian Service Award in 1997.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102658060
Feigenbaum (Edward) oral history, interviewed by Donald Knuth : session two

Edward Feigenbaum is a professor of Computer Science and co-scientific director of the Knowledge Systems Laboratory at Stanford University. Feigenbaum served as chief scientist of the United States Air Force from 1994 to 1997. Professor Feigenbaum was chairman of the Computer Science Department and director of the Computer Center at Stanford University. Until 1992, Feigenbaum was co-principal investigator of the national computer facility for applications of artificial intelligence to medicine and biology known as the SUMEX-AIM facility, established by the National Institute of Health (NIH) at Stanford University. He is past president of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. He has served on the National Science Foundation Computer Science Advisory Board, an ARPA study committee for Information Science and Technology; and on the National Research Council's Computer Science and Technology Board. He has been a member of the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine. He was the co-editor of the encyclopedia, The Handbook of Artificial Intelligence, and of the early book, Computers and Thought, published by McGraw-Hill. He is co-author of the McGraw-Hill book, Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Organic Chemistry: The DENDRAL Program and was the founding editor of the McGraw-Hill Computer Science Series. He is co-author with Pamela McCorduck of the book The Fifth Generation: Artificial Intelligence and Japan's Computer Challenge to the World, published by Addison-Wesley (1983) and by New American Library (1984). He is also co-author with Penny Nii and Pamela McCorduck of the book, The Rise of the Expert Company, on corporate successes in the use of expert systems, published by Times Books in New York and Macmillan in London (1988). He is a co-founder of three start-up firms in applied artificial intelligence, IntelliCorp, Teknowledge and Design Power Inc. and served as a member of the Board of Directors of IntelliCorp and Design Power Inc. He also was a member of the Board of Directors of Sperry Corporation prior to its merger with Burroughs. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Kansai Silicon Valley Venture Forum. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1986. In the same year, he was elected to the Productivity Hall of Fame of the Republic of Singapore. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, the honorary American College of Medical Informatics. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1991. He is the first recipient of the Feigenbaum Medal, an award established in his honor by the World Congress of Expert Systems. He was elected Fellow to the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering in January 1994. He was a recipient of the 1994 ACM Turing Award. He was named Kumagai Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University in 1995. He received the U.S. Air Force Exceptional Civilian Service Award in 1997.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102658091
Feigenbaum (Edward) oral history, interviewed by Nils Nilsson : session one

Edward Feigenbaum is a professor of Computer Science and co-scientific director of the Knowledge Systems Laboratory at Stanford University. Feigenbaum served as chief scientist of the United States Air Force from 1994 to 1997. Professor Feigenbaum was chairman of the Computer Science Department and director of the Computer Center at Stanford University. Until 1992, Feigenbaum was co-principal investigator of the national computer facility for applications of artificial intelligence to medicine and biology known as the SUMEX-AIM facility, established by the National Institute of Health (NIH) at Stanford University. He is past president of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. He has served on the National Science Foundation Computer Science Advisory Board, an ARPA study committee for Information Science and Technology; and on the National Research Council's Computer Science and Technology Board. He has been a member of the Board of Regents of the National Library of Medicine. He was the co-editor of the encyclopedia, The Handbook of Artificial Intelligence, and of the early book, Computers and Thought, published by McGraw-Hill. He is co-author of the McGraw-Hill book, Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Organic Chemistry: The DENDRAL Program and was the founding editor of the McGraw-Hill Computer Science Series. He is co-author with Pamela McCorduck of the book The Fifth Generation: Artificial Intelligence and Japan's Computer Challenge to the World, published by Addison-Wesley (1983) and by New American Library (1984). He is also co-author with Penny Nii and Pamela McCorduck of the book, The Rise of the Expert Company, on corporate successes in the use of expert systems, published by Times Books in New York and Macmillan in London (1988). He is a co-founder of three start-up firms in applied artificial intelligence, IntelliCorp, Teknowledge and Design Power Inc. and served as a member of the Board of Directors of IntelliCorp and Design Power Inc. He also was a member of the Board of Directors of Sperry Corporation prior to its merger with Burroughs. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Kansai Silicon Valley Venture Forum. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1986. In the same year, he was elected to the Productivity Hall of Fame of the Republic of Singapore. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, the honorary American College of Medical Informatics. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1991. He is the first recipient of the Feigenbaum Medal, an award established in his honor by the World Congress of Expert Systems. He was elected Fellow to the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering in January 1994. He was a recipient of the 1994 ACM Turing Award. He was named Kumagai Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University in 1995. He received the U.S. Air Force Exceptional Civilian Service Award in 1997.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102658095
Feigenbaum (Edward) oral history, interviewed by Nils Nilsson : session two

Members of the management, design, manufacturing, and marketing teams responsible for Motorola's 68000 family of microprocessors and peripheral products discuss the evolution of their activities from the 1970s through the 1990s. The 68000 microprocessor line was critical to emergence of the workstation class of computer systems as well as to Apple Computer's line of personal computers across the 1980s. Murray Goldman, the executive who lead this segment of Motorola, describes the background for and strategy surrounding the 68000 effort. Thomas Gunter, who directed the 68000 program, provides a detailed technical accounting of the developments. Jack Browne, who led the marketing function, describes the importance of customer interactions. Bill Walker, who led the manufacturing function, details the hurdles faced in fabricating the 68000 family. Van Shahan, a member of the design team, lends important perspectives on the changes that the 68000 helped bring about from the era of centralized computing to decentralized and personal computing.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102658109
Motorola 68000 oral history panel

Computer science legend John McCarthy speaks with Stanford University AI researcher and professor of computer science, Nil Nilsson. McCarthy discusses his early academic training and influences at Caltech and Princeton University. He then describes his early work at MIT and Dartmouth College in which he helped organize the highly influential Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence, the seminal first conference in the field. McCarthy then discusses his work at Stanford University and briefly summarizes some of the mathematical underpinnings of the logical models he uses in explaining and understanding computer systems.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102658125
McCarthy (John) oral history

Dr. John Hennessy of Stanford University in an interview with John Mashey describes how his academic career began, his role in helping initiate some of the major advances in computer science, and his rise through academia to become President of Stanford University. Hennessy began his scientific work writing a thesis in real time programming and after joining Stanford University in 1977 became involved in advanced computing design. That lead to Hennessy's interest in VLSI which led to developing MIPS technology. While running the Stanford Computer Systems Lab, Hennessy took a leave of absence to co-found MIPS, Inc.. When MIPS was acquired by Silicon Graphics, Hennessy returned to Stanford and became head of the Stanford Computer Science Department in 1994. Hennessy also partnered with David Patterson to write the classic textbook: 'A Quantitative Approach: Computer Architecture'. Rising to greater positions of responsibility, Hennessy became Stanford's Dean of Engineering in 1996 and then Provost succeeding Condoleezza Rice in 1999. In 2000, John Hennessy was named President of Stanford University.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102658132
Hennessy (John) oral history

Legendary computer architect and educator Fred Brooks describes his early education and work life at IBM. While there, he led IBM’s most ambitious development program ever, the IBM System/360 mainframe computer system. Brooks describes the project and its milestones as well as challenges. Brooks then discusses his moving to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was founder and chairman of the computer science department. Finally, Brooks reflects on some of the perennial issues facing software developers and the management of large software projects.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102658134
Brooks, Fred (Frederick P., Jr.) oral history

Gordon Moore, co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor, co-founder of Intel and Chairman Emeritus of the company talks about the evolution of manufacturing equipment from in-house development by semiconductor vendors to commercial suppliers specializing in specific technology areas including diffusion, epitaxy and photolithography. He discusses the impact of business cycles on both the device and equipment suppliers, on the early applications of integrated circuits, and on the unexpected durability of Moore's Law.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102658206
Moore (Gordon) oral history

Jean Bartik reviews her life and career with particular emphasis on her time as an ENIAC programmer. She discusses her work with J. Pres Eckert, John Mauchly, John von Neumann and Herman Goldstine, and discusses some of the ENIAC myths.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102658346
Bartik (Jean) Oral History

Fran Allen is regarded as a pioneer in the field of optimizing compilers. Her specialty is the development of advanced compilers for program optimization and her achievements include seminal work in compilers, code optimization and parallelization. She has developed several programming languages that have advanced the fields of computer science and optimization compiling. She helped create one of the first automatic debugging systems and, as a member of the Stretch/HARVEST project, developed an advanced code-breaking language known as Alpha. Allen currently serves as senior technical consultant to IBM Research's Solutions and Services vice-president. In 1989, she became the first woman to be named an IBM Fellow. She was also elected president of the IBM Academy of Technology in 1995. In the early 80's, she founded the Parallel Translation Group (PTRAN) to study compiling for parallel machines. This group was recognized as one of the top research groups in the world dealing with parallelization issues. She began her career at a small rural high school in Peru, NY, teaching practical math to farm kids. Allen took a job at IBM in order to earn the money she needed to pay off her college loans. She had planned to work there a couple of years and then return to her first love - teaching, but at IBM, she found something she loved even more. Allen earned her BS in 1954 from the State University of New York in Albany and her Masters three years later from the University of Michigan. She received an honorary Doctorate in Science in 1991 from the University of Alberta.

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102701930
Allen (Frances, Fran) oral history

Type
Moving Image
Format
DVCAM
Catalogue number
102702012
van Dam (Andries, Andy) Oral History