65438+ 10 65438+On the evening of May and June, Mocquery, who was extremely worried about the stagnation of research and development, picked up the Des Moines Tribune that day. A short message in the newspaper aroused his great interest: "This newspaper: John, a professor of physics at Iowa College? Dr. atanasoff has made an electronic computer whose working principle is more similar to the human brain than other machines. According to Dr. atanasoff, this machine will include more than 300 vacuum tubes and will be used to solve complex algebraic problems. This machine covers an area equivalent to a big table, and it is completely composed of electrical equipment, which is used for scientific research. Atanasoff has been developing this machine for several years, and it will be completed in about another year. There is also a photo of electronic components next to the newsletter.
Mochri excitedly read several newsletters and photos. My dream computer has been developed and will come out soon. He was so excited that he couldn't sleep all night.
The next day, Mochri set out for Iowa. He will visit atanasoff.
Kind atanasoff warmly received Mochili. He introduced the process of developing an electronic computer to Mochili in detail, and also explained his design scheme in detail. Mochili listened attentively to atanasoff's explanation, and asked some unknown questions from time to time, and atanasoff answered them one by one. Finally, when Mochili was about to leave, atanasoff took out a notebook from the drawer and solemnly handed it to Mochili, saying, "This is my hard work for many years, and it records relevant design ideas, which may be helpful to you. Let's make contributions to the scientific cause of mankind together! " Mochri knows the weight here. He took the notebook with trembling hands and expressed his deep gratitude to atanasoff.
Listening to you is better than studying for ten years. Mochiri felt that this visit had made him see a colorful world.
After returning to Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, Mochri was still immersed in happiness. He carefully scrutinized the design scheme put forward by atanasoff, which is indeed a meticulous and ingenious design scheme.
In August, 2008, Mochili wrote a paper entitled "The Use of High-speed Electron Tube Devices" based on the viewpoint of atanasoff's design scheme and his own experience.
The original opinions and novel arguments in this paper have aroused the extensive interest of teachers and students of Moore Institute of Electrical Engineering.
After reading this article, eckert, a 23-year-old graduate student, felt like a spring breeze and was excited about it. He has long been concerned about the progress of computer development and thinks that there are several difficulties in the development process that are difficult to overcome. Today, Mochri's article has solved these problems one by one.
Eckert visited Mochili. The more the two young people talked, the more devoted they became. We haven't seen each other for a long time. They decided to develop electronic computers together and put their ideas into practice.
It takes a lot of money to make electronic computers. At that time, World War II had already broken out, and the United States had already declared its participation in the war at 194 1 12. During the war, only what the war needs is the most important. They are worried about the fate of atanasoff. Initially, atanasoff's R&D funds were provided by the Agricultural Experimental Station of Iowa College. After the United States declared its participation in the war, the agricultural experimental station stopped funding, which made atanasoff's years of hard work go down the drain.
Mochili is much luckier than atanasoff. Shortly after he finished writing his design paper, Mochili's unit, the Department of Electrician, Moore Institute of Electrical Engineering, was ordered to cooperate with Aberdeen Ballistic Experimental Institute to provide six fire monitors for the Army every day. This is a very heavy workload. Because each watch has to calculate hundreds of trajectories, it takes a skilled calculator 20 hours to mechanically calculate a trajectory with a flight time of 60 seconds.
Mochri recommended his computer design scheme to Captain Gerstein, the military representative of Aberdeen, and stated the great significance of electronic computers to the military. Gerstein showed great interest in this, and he reported the idea to the higher authorities.
April 9, 2008 is a day of great historical significance in the history of modern electronic computer development. On this day, a decision-making meeting was held in Aberdeen to decide whether computer manufacturing should be started. Wilbur, a famous mathematician and scientific adviser to the War Department, listened to Gerstein's brief explanation and pondered for a long time. Then he stood up and said to the director of Aberdeen Ballistic Experimental Institute, "Give them the money." In this way, the prelude to the development of the first computer in human history began.
This research group consists of more than 200 experts. Mochili is the chief designer and eckert is the chief engineer.
After more than two years' efforts, the world's first electronic computer was finally developed at a cost of $500,000. It is named "Electronic Numerical Integration and Computer" or "ENIAC" for short.
This electronic computer is a monster. It occupies 6 houses, with an area of170m2 and a weight of over 30 tons. In which 18000 electron tubes and 1500 relays are installed. It can add and subtract 5000 times or multiply 400 times per second, which is 1000 times faster than the existing relay computer at that time.
On February 5, 2008, the US government held a grand unveiling ceremony for ENIAC. At the ceremony, ENIAC gave a public performance and won thunderous applause.
Mochri and eckert were praised by all walks of life. They also obtained the patent right of electronic computer. Interestingly, a lawsuit was later triggered. It turned out that after atanasoff interrupted the development of electronic computers, he was still concerned about the cause of electronic computers. After ENIAC came out, I found that the designer's design scheme was almost the same as my original design scheme. Soon, from a report article, he recognized Mochili, one of the inventors of ENIAC, the young man who asked him for advice in 194 1. Therefore, in the mid-1960s, due to different views on the right of invention, Mochili and atanasoff went to court. After marathon evidence collection, 1873, the US federal state court ruled that atanasoff was the first proponent of the electronic computer design scheme, and cancelled the patent rights of Mochili and eckert.
Later, people realized that the first electronic computer was designed by atanasoff and made by Mochili and eckert.
The birth of has epoch-making significance. It initiated a new era in the application of electronic technology in computers.