by Kurt W Beyer
36. Ibid.
37. Sammet, “Paper: The Early History of COBOL,” 209.
38. Howard Bromberg, “Howard Bromberg Tells the Story of Sending the COBOL Tombstone to Charlie Phillips,” Annals of the History of Computing 7, no. 4 (October 1985): 309.
39. IBM’s technique of bundling software with hardware products came under attack by the U.S. Department of Justice in the 1960s, prompting IBM to “unbundle” in December 1968. IBM’s action decoupled software from hardware, thus transforming it into a commodity. This transformation ignited the explosive growth of the software industry. See Campbell-Kelly and Aspray, Computer.
40. Hopper admitted in an interview years later that one of her motivations for supporting a COBOL standard was to block IBM from developing the business language standard. Aside from Jean Sammet’s opinion that there was a certain amount of anti-IBM sentiment within the CODASYL organization, documents from the period do not confirm Hopper’s later beliefs; Hopper, interview, 1 October 1982 (WFGP), 23.
41. Hopper, Reflections; Bromberg, “COBOL Tombstone,” 309.
42. Phillips, “Reminiscences,” 307.
43. Bromberg, “Howard Bromberg Tells the Story of Sending the COBOL Tombstone to Charlie Phillips,” 309.
44. Wegstein to Phillips, 20 November 1959 (HOL, 94–2).
45. Gaudette to Phillips, 30 November 1959 (HOL, 94–2).
46. Howard Bromberg, “The COBOL Conclusion: End of the Beginning”; Sammet, Programming Languages, 332.
47. Jean Sammet, “General Views on COBOL,” 2 December 1960 (GHP, 5–12). Since Hopper had a copy of Sammet’s report in her possession, and based on the intended audience for the document, one can only assume that it was distributed among CODASYL members as well as represented users and manufacturers.
48. Nelson to Phillips, January 26 1960 (HOL, 94–2).
49. Ibid.
50. Howard Bromberg, “Report to NBS,” 1967.
51. Edmund C. Arranga et al., “In COBOL’s Defense: Roundtable Discussion,” IEEE Software 17, no. 2 (March-April 2000): 70–72.
52. Francis Holberton, handwritten notes from 28–29 May 1959 (HOL 94–2).
53. See The Social Construction of Technological Systems, ed. Bijker et al.
54. “Computer Science” was not a term used to describe computer-oriented education until the late 1960s.
55. Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (Little, Brown, 2000), 56–59; David Hackett Fischer, Paul Revere’s Ride (Oxford University Press, 1995). Fischer confirms Gladwell’s interpretation of Revere.
56. Grace Hopper, “Draft Report on COBOL,” 1966 (HOL, 94–2).
57. Ibid.
58. Ibid.
59. “Closure” is the term used to describe the stabilization of an artifact and the disappearance of technological problems that the artifact addresses. According to the social constructivists, a technological standard does not emerge because the artifact is the most logical way to solve a given problem, but rather the influential social groups believe the problem to be solved. See Trevor Pinch and Wiebe Bijker, “The Social Construction of Facts and Artifacts: Or How the Sociology of Technology Might Benefit Each Other,” in The Social Construction of Technological Systems, ed. Bijker et al.
60. This can be attributed in part to Hopper’s work with the Department of Defense in the late 1960s. Her assignment was to standardize COBOL for the military.
NOTES TO CHAPTER 12
1. Grace Hopper, “We Teach Computers to Think,” Popular Electronics, 1959.
2. Ibid.
3. See Hughes, Networks of Power.
4. Naval Service Record Biography, “Captain Grace Murray Hopper, July 1981” (OBC).
5. Hopper, interview, 1 October 1982 (WFGP), 19.
6. Naval Service Record Biography, “Captain Grace Murray Hopper, July 1981” (OBC).
7. Ibid.
8. Kathleen Williams, Improbable Warriors (Naval Insititute Press, 2001), 209–212.
INDEX
Adams, Charlie, 263
Aiken, Howard, 73–75
and AMC, 169
and Babbage, 130, 136
and Bloch, 86
and computer community, 141–143
and Harvard Computation Laboratory, 74–88, 92–95
and Harvard Symposium, 143–145, 149, 150, 156–163
and Hopper, 4, 84, 85, 95, 170
and IBM, 109
leadership style, 73, 80–86, 94
and Mark I, 36–43, 55, 63, 64, 68, 74–79, 90, 109, 133, 134, 139, 140
and Mark II, 157–159
and Mark III, 100–103
and Watson, 135
AIMACO, 290, 292
Alcoholism, Hopper’s, 6, 175–177, 204–207
American Totalisator, 186, 187, 200
Analytical Engine, 128, 129
Arnold, Hubert, 86, 87
Asch, Alfred, 292
Asprey, Winifred, 28
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 7, 163–171, 278, 279, 319, 320
ATLAS, 172
Automatic programming, 234–246, 261–268
acceptance, 289
benefits, 223, 224, 275
Hopper and, 10, 221–225, 242–246
Automatic Programming Department, 265–267
Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator. See Mark I
Automatic sequential control, 121
B-0 language, 270–274
Babbage, Charles, 127–130, 135, 136, 145–147
Babbage, Richard, 145–149, 157, 162
Backus, John, 5, 242, 263, 264, 267–270
Ballistics Research Laboratory (BRL), 117, 118, 189
Barnard College, 31
Bartik, Betty “Jean” Jennings, 5, 190, 191, 218, 219
Bemer, Robert, 281
Berkeley, Edmund, 94, 164–169, 177, 204–207
Binary Automatic Computer (BINAC), 172, 186, 196
Biography, 18–22
Bloch, Richard
and Aiken, 81, 86, 160
and coding innovations, 97–100
at Harvard Computation Laboratory, 7, 8, 40–43
and Harvard Symposium, 150, 151
and Mark I, 49, 53, 56–63, 72
at Raytheon, 163
and von Neumann, 115, 116
Branching, 99, 100, 151
Bromberg, Howard, 281, 294, 295, 301
Bugs, 64–72
Burns, Robert, 80, 84
Bush, Vannevar, 51, 108, 119
Cambridge University
Mathematics Laboratory, 96, 97, 103, 197, 198
Campbell, Robert, 7, 8
and Aiken, 160
and Mark I, 40, 41, 53, 66, 123, 124
at Raytheon, 162, 163
Census Bureau, 185, 186, 219
Chaffee, Emory L., 114
Charles Babbage Institute, 12, 14
Circuits, 201, 202
COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language)
Hopper and, 303–309
invention, 280–292, 320, 321
specifications, 288–292
spread, 304–307
standardization, 292–300, 307–310
success, 300–304
Code
C-10, 193–196, 212
documentation, 16, 63
machine, 193–196, 266, 267
pseudo-, 233–235, 265, 266, 271–275
source, 266, 267, 270–272
Coding, relative, 98–101
Coding sheets, 70, 71
Cold War, 255–261
Columbia University Statistical Bureau, 132, 133
Commonwealth Edison, 219
Compilers, 11, 16, 314
A-0, 225–229
A-1, 229
A-2, 229–242, 264, 267
A-3, 265, 266
automatic programming and, 221–225, 263, 264
business language, 270–275
distribution, 235–242
gaining support for, 240–246
inventio
n, 214–216, 317, 318
research on, 225–232
subroutines and, 228–235
Type B, 224, 239, 240
“Compiling Routines” (Hopper), 232–235
Compton, Karl Taylor, 108
Computer industry, 11, 12, 247–261
Computer Oral History Collection, 13, 14
Computers, potential uses of, 154, 155, 180
Computing community
Aiken and, 141–143
emerging, 107
expansion, 278–280
Hopper’s place in, 169–173, 319, 320
knowledge sharing in, 143–145, 154–156, 164, 237–239, 277, 278
Computing-Tabulating-Recording (CTR) Company, 185
Comrie, Leslie, 105
COMTRAN, 290, 292, 295
Conant, James Bryant, 108
Conference on Data Systems and Languages (CODASYSL), 285–296, 320, 321
Courant, Richard, 29, 30
Crane, Philip, 2
Curtiss, John, 166
Customer support, 219, 220, 252–253
Data-processing centers, 61
D-Day, 52, 53
Debugging, 64–67, 70–72
Department of Defense, 283–285, 302, 303
Difference Engine, 127, 128
Differential analyzer, 51, 52, 239, 240, 315
Differential equations, 149, 150, 239, 240, 315
Eckert, J. Presper, Jr., 15, 51, 52, 111, 112, 118, 180–187, 200–202
Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation (EMCC), 4, 10, 172, 173
financial difficulties, 184–187, 199–204, 208
Hopper at, 177–184, 191–199
programmer training at, 196, 197
purchased by Remington Rand, 208–212, 216–220
Editing generator, 239, 314
EDSAC (Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Computer), 65, 66, 97, 105, 197
“Education of a Computer, The” (Hopper), 220–225
EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer), 121, 181, 182
Electronic Control Company, 166, 181
Emergency Price Control Act and Stabilization Act, 24
Engineering Research Associates (ERA), 171, 172, 253
Engstrom, Howard, 35, 171, 172
ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), 8, 9, 15, 51, 52, 61, 69, 108, 118–122, 151, 152, 190, 191, 202, 203
Errors
computational, 55, 56
round-off, 55, 56
FACT (Fully Automatic Compiling Technique), 293–297
“First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC” (von Neumann), 111–113, 116–122, 152, 181, 182
Flow charts, 192, 193
FLOW-MATIC, 274, 275, 291–296
Forrester, Jay, 256–258
FORTRAN, 267–270, 295
Gender issues, 211, 212
Giddens, Anthony, 21
Gladwell, Malcolm, 306, 307
Goheen, Harry, 93–95, 165–167
Goldstine, Herman, 111–113, 117–120, 182, 193
Gorn, Saul, 281
Grace Murray Hopper Center, 2
Grosch, Herbert, 241
Groves, Leslie, 210, 216, 217, 257
Hacking, 63
Hammer, Carl, 240, 241
Harvard Computation Laboratory, 4, 9, 10, 17, 39–43, 53
Aiken and, 73–88, 92–95
Berkeley and, 164, 165
computer community and, 141–143
Hopper at, 81, 87, 88, 95, 169–177
humor at, 84, 85
isolation, 107–111
postwar environment, 92–95
pressures, 176, 177
public relations, 140
talent migration from, 161–163
wartime culture and, 89–91, 176
Harvard Symposium on Large-Scale Digital Calculating Machinery, 143–163
Harvard University, 12, 141
Hawkings, Bob, 45
History of Programming Languages Conference, 7, 12, 13
Holberton, Betty (Snyder), 5, 187–194, 199, 209–212, 236, 288, 303, 304. See also Snyder, Betty
Holberton, John, 211, 212
Hollerith, Herman, 185
Honeywell, 293–297
Hopper, Vincent, 25, 26, 30, 31
Hughes, Thomas, 19
IBM (International Business Machines), 185
Aiken and, 109
antitrust lawsuit against, 248, 249
COBOL and, 292–295, 302, 303
computers, 258, 259
culture at, 5, 172
early computer industry and, 247–261
EMCC and, 201–204
Mark I and, 132–137, 148
SAGE and, 255–261
Seeber and, 85
Implosion, 99, 114–116, 239, 240
Innovation, 90, 91, 95–106
Input/output mechanisms, 184
Instructional Tape Preparation Table, 101, 103
Internal memory, 9, 100, 101, 121, 152, 183, 184, 266
Interpreters, 234, 235
Interviews, 16–18
Invention, 213, 214, 314–319
distributed, 11, 225–232, 317, 318
simultaneous, 103–106
Investment capital, 184–187
Jacquard, Joseph, 128
Joy, C. Turner, 148, 149
Kahrimanian, Harry, 239, 240, 315
Koss, Adele Mildred, 219, 239, 314, 315
Laniung, J. Halcombe, Jr., 263, 264
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm von, 126, 127
Leontief, Wassily, 150
Livingston, Hugh, 196
Lovelace, Ada, 128–130
Manhattan Project, 113, 114
Manual of Operation for the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (Hopper), 123–130, 137–140
Mark I (Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator), 7, 9
Aiken and, 36–43, 55, 63, 64, 68, 74–79, 90, 109, 133, 134, 139, 140
bugs, 66–72
commercial potential, 90, 91
design, 45–51, 90
Hopper and, 87, 88
IBM narrative, 132–137
manual for, 123–130, 137–140
operating instructions, 57, 58
output, 60, 61
performance, 144, 148
postwar environment and, 92–95
processing speed, 62–64, 115
programming, 47–49, 53–62, 70–72
subroutines, 96
testing, 59, 60
von Neumann and, 111–116
Mark II, 7, 53, 90, 93, 147, 148, 157–159, 184
Mark III, 93, 100–103, 214, 221, 222
Marriage, 25, 26, 31
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 108, 109, 255–258
Mathematical functions, 50
Mathematical models, 150
Mathematics, 15, 16, 25, 28
MATH-MATIC, 266, 267
Mauchly, John
and ACM, 166, 167
and EDVAC, 181–183
and EMCC, 173, 177–181, 199–201
and ENIAC, 51, 52, 69, 118
and “First Draft,” 111, 112
and IBM, 201–204
and Remington Rand, 210–212, 217
and UNIVAC, 184–187
McAfee, Mildred, 32
Mealey, Marilyn, 311–313
Memory, 151, 158, 257
Mercury delay lines, 158, 159, 183
Microsoft, 6
Midshipmen’s School, 32–34
Mitchell, Herbert, 196, 218
Mitchell, Maria, 26
Morton, Paul, 158
Moser, Nora, 237
Murray, Roger, 31
National Bureau of Standards, 186
National Museum of American History, 12, 13, 16
Naval Data Automation Headquarters (NAVDAC), 322–324
Navy, 3, 4, 32–43, 322–324
Navy Communications Annex, 35
Navy Programming Languages Group, 322
Navy Women’s Reserve Act, 31
Nomenclature Committee, 278, 279, 320
Nutt, Roy, 293
Nye, David, 20
Operating instructions, 57, 58, 71, 102
Operators, 56, 57
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 73
Oral histories, 13–18
Pacific Mutual Insurance Company, 251, 252
Palmer, Ralph, 203
Partial differential equations, 30, 55
Pascal, Blaise, 126
Pearl Harbor, 3, 23, 24, 31
Personal difficulties, Hopper’s, 5, 6, 31, 175, 176, 204–207
Phillips, Charles, 280–284, 302, 303
Primary sources, 12–14
Problem-oriented languages, 263–275
Professor, Hopper as, 25–32
Programmers
shortage, 254, 255
training, 196, 197, 264, 265, 319
Programming, 62
costs, 244, 245, 265, 282, 284
history, 313, 314
innovations, 90, 91, 95–106
as invention, 6–12
Mark I, 47–49, 53–66, 70–72
techniques, 7, 8
Programs, portability of, 283, 284
Project Whirlwind, 256–259, 263
Punch cards, 201, 202, 209
RAND Corporation, 261
Rand, James, 208, 209
Random-access memory (RAM), 158, 257, 258
RAYDAC, 163
Raytheon Manufacturing Company, 162, 163
RCA, 294–296
Relay technology, 68, 69, 90, 147, 158–160
Remington Rand Corporation, 5
Hopper and, 11, 219, 220, 254
IBM and, 247–261
management, 242–246
purchase of EMCC by, 208–212, 216–220
sales and support for UNIVAC at, 216–220, 252–254
UNIVAC and, 249–254
Retirement, Hopper in, 322–324
Reynolds, Edward, 148
Richards, Ellen Swallow, 26
Ridgway, Richard, 225–229
Run-programs, 226
60 Minutes interview, of Hopper, 1, 2
604 Electronic Calculator, 203
SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment), 255–261
Sammet, Jean, 7, 289, 290, 294
Saunders, Frederick, 75, 76
Savage, David, 217
Schell, Emil, 236
Seeber, Robert, 85
Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator, 85
Shapley, Harlow, 76, 78
Smith, Eugene, 283
Smith, Gertrude, 28—39
Smithsonian Institution, 12, 13, 16
Snyder, Betty, 5, 187–194, 199, 209–212, 236, 288, 303, 304. See also Holberton, Betty (Snyder)
Social constructivism, 19–21
