Who is the father of computers? urgent

Who is the real father of computers? The debate on this issue has been going on in the United States for nearly 30 years; The resulting lawsuit has also become the longest-lasting intellectual property lawsuit in American history.

Regrettably, until today, this historical case is still little known. Most domestic computer textbooks, popular science books and mainstream media, even historical and literary blockbusters such as The Rise of Great Powers, still think that Maukley and ENIAC of eckert are the first electronic computers in the world.

In fact, the real computer inventor should be atanasoff of Iowa State University. Not long ago, atanasoff's son atanasoff Jr. came to China to restore the historical truth for people.

Electronic computers have entered every aspect of today's society and become an indispensable tool for people's work and life in the information age. The invention of the computer can be said to be the most important scientific and technological contribution in the last century. The question of who is the inventor of modern computers has been debated in America for nearly 30 years. Before 1973, the most popular saying was that the first computer in the world was born in the University of Pennsylvania, which was a machine named ENIAC built by Mao Keli and eckert in 1946. However, the controversy never stopped, and Moakley's colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania talked about it, thinking that Moakley was suspected of plagiarism.

American courts have conducted court investigation on the ownership of computer invention right for many years, and made a final judgment in 1973: the first electronic computer was invented by john vincent atanasoff of Iowa State University in 1939, not ENIAC made by Mao Keli and others. At that time, American news media exclaimed that atanasoff was "the father of forgotten computers".

1 atanasoff and Maukley: "Li Kui jy" and "Gui Li"

Starting from 1935, atanasoff, an associate professor of physics at Iowa State University, began to explore the possibility of using digital electronic technology for calculation. At first, he hoped to design a new tool and method to help his students deal with those complicated calculation problems. At that time, hand-operated mechanical computers were widely used in American universities, but it was difficult to undertake complex calculation work, such as solving linear partial differential equations.

After studying hard for two years, I didn't make a breakthrough and never found the right direction. /kloc-One winter night in 0/937, atanasoff had an inspiration in a roadside pub. He scribbled these ideas on the napkin he caught at that time and outlined the outline of his computing machine, which includes four elements:

1. Using electric energy and electronic components, it was an electronic vacuum tube at that time;

2. Replace the usual decimal system with binary system;

3. As a memory, the capacitor can be regenerated to avoid mistakes;

4. Perform direct logical operations instead of the usual numerical operations.

This is an epoch-making moment: the history of computers has turned a new page, which will span the history of machinery and move towards a new era of electronics and numbers. Atanasoff's works introduced the basic principle and structure of electronic computer.

In the next few weeks, he designed the circuit, drew the blueprint and wrote the scientific research project plan. After being approved by his physics department, he reported it to the Academic Committee of Iowa State University, and applied for and obtained a pitiful $650 research fund.

Atanasoff also found an ideal collaborator, Clifford Berry, a clever physics graduate student who knows mechanics and has practical ability. Two people finally developed a complete prototype in 1939. People call this prototype ABC (atanasoff-Berry Computer).

ABC is a combination of electronics and electrical appliances. It is equipped with 300 electronic vacuum tubes for digital calculation and logical operation, and capacitors are used to store numerical values. Data input adopts punch card reading method and binary. This is a truly modern electronic computer, electronic rather than mechanical, although it is rough or even worn out.

Atanasoff wrote several letters to the patent lawyer of Iowa State University, and provided the necessary documents for patent application. During World War II, he was drafted into the navy. The university didn't take ABC's invention seriously. Instead of helping atanasoff complete the patent application, he ordered the graduate students in the department to dismantle ABC, because during the war, the supply of 300 vacuum tubes on the computer ABC was in short supply. Stewart, a graduate student who was sent to disassemble electronic tube components, later became a professor and the first dean of the computer department of Iowa State University. He is still alive and is an important witness of ABC.

However, in 1943, the U.S. Department of Defense approved a research plan of Professor Mao Keli and eckert of the University of Pennsylvania: to design and manufacture a machine that can solve the weather forecast problem. The military generously allocated US$ 400,000, which is far from the scientific research funds obtained by atanasoff in that year. 1946, the machine of Mao Keli and eckert came out, called ENIAC (Eniac), and its function was much better than that of ABC.

Atanasoff later learned about ENIAC from media reports, and recognized the manufacturer, Mao Keli, then a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who visited ABC in the summer of 194 1 and stayed in his house for five days to ask him and Berry for advice. Atanasoff saw that the basic design principle of ENIAC is to copy his concept, in which all adding circuits are direct copies or evolutions of ABC.

Mao Keli denied consulting atanasoff about the design principle of ABC, and even concealed that he had visited atanasoff in A Mu on 194 1. Mao Keli and eckert applied for a patent for their "invention" ENIAC. They sold the patent right to a computer manufacturing company named Rand, and gained huge economic benefits. Atanasoff, the real inventor, has been unable to recover his invention right: his invention has no patent protection, and he has no financial ability to file a lawsuit against Maukley and the Rand Company behind him. It seems that atanasoff can only "eat Rhizoma Coptidis for the dumb".

Honeywell and Rand Company went to court: This was a mistake.

Atanasoff has been disheartened, no longer expect to take back the invention right of the computer from Mao Keli. However, God never shuts one door but he opens another. Honeywell and Rand, two American computer manufacturers, went to court for commercial litigation, so they found atanasoff to testify in court. The original intention of the lawsuit is not to uphold justice, but to be driven by the huge economic interests behind it. But this lawsuit objectively helped atanasoff and provided him with an opportunity to restore the invention right of the first electronic computer.

It happened on 1966. The core of the dispute between Honeywell Company and Rand Company involves the invention patent right of electronic computer.

Rand Company claims that it owns the patent right of computer invention, which it bought from "inventors" Mao Keli and eckert. It is called "Eniack patent". Rand wants to sue Honeywell for infringement: Honeywell manufactures computers, but refuses to pay Rand's patent fees.

Honeywell's purpose is extremely simple and clear, that is, to deny Rand's "Eniac patent". If successful, the company will no longer pay Rand huge patent fees. Therefore, the company decided to take a risk no matter how much litigation costs it would cost.

Conflicts of interest, tit for tat, there is no room for reconciliation. The two sides fought for the plaintiff and showed their cards in court.

However, how can we win the lawsuit? As early as 1962, Bell Telephone Laboratories in the United States has initiated legal proceedings to question the legality of RAND's "Eniac patent". However, U.S. District Judge Dawson ruled that Bell lost the case due to the lack of sufficient evidence to accuse Bell Telephone Laboratories, and RAND continued to own the "Eniac patent".

Therefore, for the upcoming lawsuit, RAND believes that the victory is in hand.

Honeywell understands that this will be a difficult lawsuit. Winning the case means overturning Judge Dawson's original judgment. If nothing else, it is a question whether we can find a local court to accept this case. Secondly, we must also consider the strategy of litigation: we must never repeat the mistakes of Bell. Instead of questioning the legitimacy of RAND's "Eniac patent", we should be radical and prove that Maukley and eckert are not the real inventors of computers at all, so the patents they own are actually illegal.

Honeywell suspected that Maukley and eckert were fake, not out of thin air. They not only heard rumors accusing Maukley of being a fake inventor at the University of Pennsylvania, but also collected a news report about atanasoff's invention of ABC and a photo of Bailey's operation of ABC in 194 1 Demenez Tribune. Honeywell is confident to overturn the "Eniac patent".

Honeywell and RAND entered legal proceedings almost at the same time, suing each other, and they were conducting a "court competition" to become plaintiffs in the case. The matter went to Washington, DC, and Federal Justice Srika made a judicial ruling on the case: the jurisdiction of the case was placed in Minnesota; And also decided that Honeywell was the plaintiff in this case; Judge Larson was assigned to hear the case. Judge Larson, 58, is young and experienced, and has the body and energy to accept this complicated and time-consuming case.

Honeywell took the lead in the marathon legal proceedings, and it took one year to complete the legal filing procedure.

On the other hand, Honeywell must find atanasoff and Berry, who will be the most critical witnesses in this case. During World War II, Berry also left Iowa State University and his family went to California. Unfortunately, Berry went to work in new york alone on 1963, and somehow left his wife and a pair of children behind and committed suicide.

Atanasoff understands the significance of this matter to him, and this is the only chance to restore his computer invention right. He finally had a chance to expose Maukley's lie that "he didn't learn anything from ABC's design", and he didn't have to pay the litigation fee. Atanasoff immediately expressed his willingness to testify in court.

Of course, we must also find Maxley, who will also appear as a witness. Maukley knew that the lawsuit was ill-fated for him, but he had no choice but to fight to the end.

Once the heavy wheels turn, it is difficult to stop. Is about to start a atanasoff can't afford to play, Mao Keli can't afford to lose the lawsuit. How many Americans are paying attention: the good show is about to begin.

3 atanasoff and lawyers cooperate: complement each other.

1968, atanasoff, who was about to testify in court, began to prepare testimony and evidence. The computer prototype ABC designed and manufactured by him and Berry at Iowa State University was demolished by the school 25 years ago, and now he wants to restore ABC according to the design blueprint at that time. Atanasoff was so excited that he still remembers the original design concept, ideas and plans. He will use this restored ABC to explain to the court what his invention is. He will also analyze to the court that the basic principle of ENIAC proposed by Mao Keli and eckert is no different from ABC.

1 971June1day, Judge Larsen opened the court, and the first witness summoned to the court was atanasoff. Atanasoff came prepared and testified in court for three consecutive days. He first told the court about the winter of 1937, the night he was inspired, and the roadside pub in Illinois. He then described how to design the circuit, realize the concept he foresaw, the successful operation of ABC and so on.

Atanasoff also testified to the court: 1939. In March, he wrote a paper on the working principle of ABC, which was approved by his physics department and submitted to the Academic Committee of Iowa State University, and applied for and obtained a research grant of $650.

In the next two days, the court summoned other witnesses of the plaintiff, who testified in court to support atanasoff's court statement; The court also read the relevant documents, and all the written evidence was consistent with atanasoff's testimony.

In the first three days of the trial, atanasoff tried to convince the court that he established the basic principles and concepts of modern electronic computers as early as 1939, and successfully developed the prototype ABC on this basis.

On June 2 1, the court investigation entered the second stage, to investigate whether Maukley copied atanasoff's invention. The court began to investigate whether atanasoff and Maukley met in June of 194 1 and how they met. Atanasoff testified in court that:

"I clearly remember that it was a Monday. I picked up Moxley early in the morning and went to see our machine. Berry is already waiting there. When Mao Keli met Berry, he immediately began to discuss the details of the machine. I really regret giving Maukley a design book that morning, just like the one in front of me. "

Atanasoff picked it up and showed it to the judge. The design book was completed in 1940, ***35 pages, with a green cover, describing the structure and concept of ABC in detail, with sketches drawn by atanasoff and Berry.

Immediately after atanasoff's clear and accurate statement, the competent plaintiff's lawyer submitted to the court a printed manual entitled Notes on Electronic Computing Equipment, which was written by Mao Keli in August 194 1 year, only a few weeks before his visit to ABC. At the same time, the plaintiff's lawyer confirmed to the court that atanasoff's "Green Paper" was written in August 1940,14; The main points of ABC's working principle include: binary system, solving linear equations, ABC's time control and synchronization, point container storage and digital reading, circuit automatic operation and logic circuit.

After testifying, atanasoff left Minnesota and returned to Maryland, where he had a farm. Atanasoff was satisfied with the performance of Honeywell lawyers and court forensics: the "amateurs" of these computers could understand the principles and terms of computers in such a short time, and they also established themselves and ABC's position in the history of computer development in legal language. What lawyers do is beyond the reach of any professional computer historian. The completeness and sufficiency of the court investigation, the rigor of the evidence given by the lawyer, the judge's strict control over the trial procedure and accurate judgment of the facts all made atanasoff unexpected and greatly lamented.

4 Mao Keli appeared in court: you can dance when you are cornered.

Moxley's turn to appear in court.

Before the trial, according to American legal procedures, lawyers of both sides should take evidence from the witnesses of the other side separately, and lawyers can't just listen to one side of the story. In this link, the testimony provided by Mao Keli to the plaintiff's lawyer is somewhat vague, which is inconsistent with the testimony of witnesses such as atanasoff and the evidence held by the court. For example, although he admitted that he had been to A Mu, Iowa, and had been to ABC, he denied that he had ever seen the internal details of ABC and had never seen atanasoff's 35-page "Green Paper". The court found his testimony difficult to establish and unacceptable, so it decided to interrogate him in court.

Lawyers are sharp-tongued, aggressive, good at making a diversion, and good at discovering and exposing perjury. Mao keli let the plaintiff's lawyer really "repair" for three days. He told different stories, full of loopholes and made a big fool of himself.

Maukley originally said: In the dim light, I only saw atanasoff's hooded machine. However, he accidentally recognized ABC from a photo taken in May 1942, which was shown to him by a lawyer. Later, I had to change my mind and admit that I had seen ABC's works.

Mao Keli originally said: I don't remember Barry. But the fact is that the person who showed him ABC's works was Berry, and three people can testify.

However, Maukley insisted that he didn't learn anything about electronic digital computers after visiting ABC. He also argued in a contemptuous tone that atanasoff's machine can only be used to solve linear equations, only for special purposes. He is interested in developing versatile machines.

In court, when asked about the "notes" he wrote, Mao Keli stated to the court that this was the memo about electronic digital computers that he thought of, and the idea did not come from his communication with atanasoff.

All the people present, including the judge and even the defendant's lawyer, can clearly judge that Maukley is lying and picking holes. He is a man who can dance after being cornered.

After three days of trial, Honeywell's lawyer spoke in class, submitted material evidence, summed up the facts, and finally "persuaded" Mao Keli to admit in an almost ironic tone:

1. From June 65, 2003 to June 65, 2008, he went to atanasoff's home in A Mu.

During his visit, he spent a lot of time discussing ABC and computer theory with atanasoff and Berry.

Accompanied by atanasoff and Berry, he visited the ABC of the University Physics Building several times in three or four days.

He observed the operation of ABC and once used Berry to load and unload some parts.

He read 35 pages about the structure and operation of ABC.

6. atanasoff and Berry are willing to answer any questions he has. Atanasoff refused his request to bring a copy of the instruction back to Pennsylvania.

7. Shortly after his visit to Iowa, he wrote to atanasoff and his meteorologist friend Clayton, expressing his enthusiasm for ABC and saying that he was studying electronic courses at the University of Pennsylvania.

8. 1942 15 In August, he wrote a comprehensive memorandum on the difference between analog calculator and pulse device, which was almost identical to atanasoff's 35-page explanation on ABC's structure and operation.

9. 194 1 On September 30th, 2000, he wrote to atanasoff, suggesting to cooperate in the development of computers in atanasoff, and asked whether atanasoff objected to his using atanasoff's concept to manufacture computers.

Mao Keli was at a loss. He couldn't lift his head and dare not face the contemptuous eyes of people in court. Before leaving the witness box, he said something irrelevant, neither directly acknowledging the facts listed by Honeywell's lawyer nor denying that he had a complete mental breakdown.

The final judgment of the court: there is a public opinion.

19731June19th, the court made the final judgment. From 1 971June1day, a total of 135 sessions were held, and 77 witnesses were summoned. In the evidence collection stage before the trial, lawyers of both sides collected 80 written testimonies. The longest intellectual property lawsuit in American history ended with Judge Larson's judgment. If we start from 1967, the "court competition" between Honeywell and Rand Company will actually take more than six years to end the case.

On the day of Judge Larson's sentencing, the court did not have a heated debate or make a generous statement as in most other cases. No, it's nothing. Some just sort out the documents and check the physical evidence, because in the face of clear facts, even the defendant Rand Company has nothing to say and no room for defense.

First, Judge Larson announced the court's findings: the facts are clear, and there is no doubt that "Maukley's basic idea about ENIAC came from atanasoff, and the claimed invention about ENIAC also came from atanasoff." Judge Larson further emphasized: "Maukley and eckert didn't invent the first automatic electronic digital computer, what they did was the evolution of the concept and design principle in atanasoff's invention."

According to the court's ruling, Judge Larson declared:

"Between 1939 and 1942, atanasoff and Berry built the first electronic digital computer at Iowa State University."

But Mao Keli and eckert have actually owned the patent right of computer invention for 25 years, and gained huge ill-gotten gains, but they can never escape the moral punishment. Judge Larson allowed Honeywell's lawyer to throw one sharp question after another at Maukley, which made Maukley lose face in court. One by one, his lies were exposed and nailed to the column of shame.

The cause and outcome of this dramatic lawsuit are incredible, and Americans have to say: God is the fairest!

Atanasoff was very satisfied with the verdict. Although he didn't, and can't get any economic benefits because of his great inventions that influenced all mankind, he won many honors, among which the main ones are:

1983, ten years after Judge Larson was sentenced, a documentary about atanasoff and his ABC was released.

1990, President Bush awarded him the National Science and Technology Award, which is the highest award in engineering.

He won five honorary doctorates in his life.

1995, atanasoff is dead. To commemorate him forever, a street leading to the airport in A Mu, Iowa was named atanasoff Avenue.