Skip to main content
Notice: The Library is open for research by appointment only, please visit our research services page for more information.

Simon E. Gluck collection of early computer documents

Creation: 1944-1976 Creation: Majority of material found within 1948-1958
 Collection
Accession: 1987

Abstract

Simon E. Gluck was an engineer educated at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering, who worked on most of its computer projects during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The collection consists of research reports, progress reports, engineering drawings, published articles, and lecture notes which describe the development of the ENIAC, EDVAC, MSAC, and SEAC computers.

Dates

  • Creation: 1944-1976
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1948-1958

Creator

Extent

3 Linear Feet

Biographical Note

Simon E. Gluck was an engineer educated at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering, who worked on most of its computer projects during the late 1940s and early 1950s. He was later associated with the Burroughs Corporation, working as an engineer at its Paoli, Pennsylvania, plant.

Between 1943 and 1951, John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert and their associates at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering built six of the world's first electronic digital computers. This work began in 1943 under an Army Ordnance Dept. contract which funded the ENIAC (Electronic numerical integrator and computer). After the Second World War, the staff of the Moore School built the EDVAC and BINAC, computers with stored-memory capability. In 1948 the SPEAC computer was built for the National Bureau of Standards to be used by the Air Controller's Office, and in 1951 the MSAC (Moore School automatic computer) was built for the Army Signal Corps.

Finally, in 1951, Eckert and Mauchly had organized the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation and built the UNIVAC I, the first computer designed for commercial use.

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of research reports, progress reports, engineering drawings, published articles, and lecture notes which describe the development of the ENIAC, EDVAC, MSAC, and SEAC computers. Of particular interest are the EDVAC programming logic and design records, which document the first efforts to develop a computer with stored-memory capability. There are also reports on the EDVAC's control panel, and acoustical delay line and delay register, diode gating circuits, and standard parts.

Access Restrictions

No restrictions on access; this collection is open for research.

Language of Materials

English

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title:
Simon E. Gluck collection of early computer documents
Author:
Todd Cohn
Date:
2004
Description rules:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description:
English
Script of description:
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 2021: Ashley Williams

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
PO Box 3630
Wilmington Delaware 19807 USA
302-658-2400