The EDVAC Design| The fact that the ENIAC was such a revolutionary machine contributed to the second
controversy that has marked its history--the development of the "stored program concept."
By no means did the ENIAC have all of the architectural features of a modern computer:
it was a wartime project, and the exigencies of doing something quickly justified a
straight-forward design. But this contingency meant that all of the groups who
subsequently took an interest in the ENIAC could propose improvements to the machine,
thereby fueling priority disputes over who first came up with a particular concept.
|  Photograph of EDVAC, ca. 1948. (click to expand to 83k) |
|
It was the highly skilled mathematician, John von Neumann, who produced the best
formal description of a
stored program computer. During the fall of 1944 von Neumann
took time off from his work at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton,
New Jersey and the Los Alamos Project to take
part in the Moore School discussions regarding the EDVAC design. No official reports
or minutes came out of these joint discussions, making issues of credit very difficult to
resolve. Instead, Von Neumann independently drafted a report titled the "First Draft
Report of the Edvac Design." As a draft document merely reflecting his current thoughts,
von Neumann had not attempted to attribute or resolve issues of credit. But Herman
Goldstine had given the document wide circulation, which had the unfortunate (or
fortunate) result of placing the knowledge in the public domain. | |
 Plan of EDVAC, n.d. (click to expand to 83k) |
The controversy here reflects, in part, the different cultures of electrical engineers and
mathematicians. Whereas electrical engineers tend not to publish their ideas before they
turn them into concrete inventions, mathematicians often circulate their ideas amongst
colleagues even before they are ready to release them in a publication. Both sides failed
to appreciate the different conventions of their respective fields, fueling the priority
disputes that ensued. |
[Introduction] [Previous panel]
[Next panel]
(to return to this page afterward, hit the "back"
button on your browser, usually at upper left)
Send mail concerning this page to:
shawcros@pobox.upenn.edu