Simon E. Gluck collection of early computer documents
Creation: 1944-1976 Creation: Majority of material found within 1948-1958Abstract
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
- Gluck, Simon E. (Collector, Person)
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
Subjects
Related Names
Subject
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