Harvard Mark I Control Panel, IBM ASCC

Description:

This is a small part of one of the first machines that could be programmed to carry out calculations automatically. Initially designed to solve scientific problems, it was used during World War II to carry out computations for the United States Navy. It was a one-of-a-kind machine. After the war, IBM would greatly expand its activity in computing to include electronic computers. Harvard began one of the first degree programs in computer science. People who had worked on the Mark I, such as Grace Murray Hopper, also went to work for other early computer manufacturers. More generally, many scholars and ordinary people first learned about "giant brains," as early computers were called, through workshops and press releases of the Harvard Computation Laboratory.

Date Made: 1944

Maker: IBMHarvard University

Location: Currently not on view

Place Made: United States: Massachusetts, Cambridge, Harvard University

Subject: Mathematics

Subject:

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Mathematics, Computers & Business Machines

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: Gift of President and Fellows of Harvard University

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: MA.323579Accession Number: 248831Catalog Number: 323579

Object Name: computer componentelectromechanical computer componentOther Terms: electromechanical computer component; computer component; Control Panel

Measurements: overall: 213 cm x 76 cm x 13 cm; 83 7/8 in x 29 15/16 in x 5 1/8 in

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a7-74a3-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_904257

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