Computer Pioneering in the 1940s

By ttamrda

  • CNC

    Bell Telephone Labs completed the CNC calculator by scientist George Stibitz. Stibitz remotely performed calculations using a Teletype terminal connected to the CNC in NYC over special telephone lines. Likely the first instance of remote access computing and a precursor to several remote support applications such as TeamViewer, Anydesk, and NoMachine.

  • Z3 Computer

    The Z3, an early computer by German engineer Konrad Zuse, with 2,300 relays, conducted floating point binary arithmetic and had a 22-bit word length. Initially used for aerodynamic calculations, the Z3 version was destroyed in a 1943 bombing raid on Berlin. Zuse later supervised a 1960s reconstruction now exhibited at the Deutsches Museum in Munich. (http://vimeo.com/13543943)

  • Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC)

    In 1939, Professor John Vincent Atanasoff secured funds to construct a full-scale computer after a successful proof-of-concept prototype. Developed by Atanasoff and grad student Clifford Berry completed in 1942, the Atanasoff-Berry Computer was at the center of a patent dispute. The dispute was resolved in 1973, establishing Atanasoff as the originator of key computer ideas. However, the concept of the computer itself was deemed un-patentable, ensuring open access for all.

  • Bell Labs Model II

    The US Army assigned Bell Laboratories to build a machine for testing the M-9 gun director, an analog gun-aiming computer. Mathematician George Stibitz suggested a relay-based calculator, resulting in the Relay Interpolator (Bell Labs Model II). Equipped with 440 relays and paper tape programmability, it exceeded its original purpose, being repurposed for diverse tasks post-war.

  • Plankalkül (Plan Calculus)

    Konrad Zuse pioneers Plankalkül, the first algorithmic programming language, to establish theoretical foundations for problem-solving. Seven years earlier, he introduced the world's first binary digital computer, the Z1. In 1941, Zuse achieved another milestone with the fully functional program-controlled electromechanical digital computer, the Z3. Unfortunately, only the Z4, his most advanced creation, survived World War II.