The father of the world's electronic computers was John Vincent Attanasov
Wu Guofa
(First draft 2005, revised on November 1, 2021)
Abstract: The inventor of the world's first electronic computer and the father of the world's electronic computer was the American Professor John Atanasoff, not John Neumann, nor Alan Turing. The first electronic computer was ABC, not ENIAC.
Who invented the world's first electronic computer? Who is the father of the world's electronic computers? The inventors of electronic computers mentioned in Chinese textbooks, the vast majority of academic works, and popular scientific books are not real inventors. The true inventor of electronic computers and the father of the world's electronic computers was John Vincent Atanasoff (October 4, 1903 – June 15, 1995), a professor at The University of Love.
John Vincent Atanasoff
Most Books published in China say that the Hungarian-American scientist John Von Neumann (1903-1957) was the inventor of the electronic computer, and he has long been known as the "father of the electronic computer." However, John Neumann himself did not consider himself the "father of the electronic computer". By the way: Neumann is not pronounced "Neumann", but "Newman".
Frankl, an American physicist who served as John Neumann's assistant at the Los Alamos Laboratory, wrote in a letter: "Many have elected John Neumann as the 'father of computers,' yet I am sure he himself would never have contributed to this error. Perhaps, he could be aptly called a midwife. John Neumann himself, the "father of the computer," put the crown on the head of the British scientist Alan M. Turing (1912-1954). But the real "father of computers" is neither John Neumann nor Alain Turing.
Before 1973, most people in the American computer community believed that the inventor of the electronic computer was J. Mochilly of the Mohr School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Mauchiy) and P. Eckert, because they were the developers of eniacan computers with great practical value.
It is now recognized in the international computer community that the real inventor of the first electronic computer was John Vincent Atanasoff (1903-1995) in the United States. He is known in the international computer community as the "father of electronic computers". Unfortunately, the vast majority of people in China's computer industry are unaware of this fact.
As to who the real inventor of the electronic computer was, the American people concerned, Athanasov, Mochili and Eckert, fought a protracted lawsuit and the court held 135 trials. Finally, a local court in the United States made a decision. On October 19, 1973, the court publicly announced its verdict: "Mochili and Eckert did not invent the first computer, but only took advantage of the ideas in Attanasov's invention." The reason is that as early as 1941, when Mochili visited Aiawa, Attanasov told the inventor of ENIAC about the secret of his technology in electronic computers. The date of the court's ruling was the day before Nixon's "Watergate" came to light. The next day' reports of the Watergate scandal overwhelmed the verdict. Atanasov did not make a name for himself.
J. Attanasov Atanasoft) is a professor of physics at The University of Aiawa. From 1936, he began to study electronic computers. Attanasov built and invented the electronic computer with the help of his graduate student Clifford E. Berry (1818-1963).
The University of Ayrawaw funded Atanasov to develop a computer for only $650.
A test prototype of the first electronic computer began operation in October 1939. The computer helped Professors and Graduate Students at Alawah University solve complex mathematical equations. Atanasov named the machine ATANASOFF-Berry-Computer, where A and B took the first letter of their surnames, C, which is the first letter of "computer".
John Vincent Atanasoff 和 Clifford E. Berry
After the birth of the first electronic computer, Atanasov and Berry did not receive the inventor's garland.
Before Attanasov and Berry left, two improved ABC computers were operational.
Atanasov's father was a Bulgarian expatriate. Attanasov entered the University of Florida in 1921. In 1930, Atanasov received his doctorate.
In 1942, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Atanasov and Berry voluntarily dropped their research plans and turned to more urgent defense research projects.
In 1990, U.S. President George W. Bush awarded Atanasoff the State Prize for Natural Science at the White House.