Finding Aids

Isaac Auerbach (1921-1992) joined the staff of the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation to work on the UNIVAC project in June of 1946. One of his initial assignments was to survey and analyze the "large-scale computing projects" that were underway in the various computational laboratories throughout the country. This report goes through the history of analog computing, the development of digital computing and computational theory, current computer development projects at research institutions and commercial firms, and the commercial market for electronic digital computers.

Engineering Research Associates (ERA) origins can be traced to the classified World War II-era Navy project to break the German secret codes by using electronic data processing. After the war, ERA became a private sector company that did pioneering work in computer development. In 1952, it was purchased by Remington Rand. The records include the correspondence of ERA's founding engineers including William Norris and Arnold Cohen. Also included is business and technical correspondence, legal records, patents, and oral histories.