sarton, science, and history || literature and institutions in the history of computing

Literature and Institutions in the History of ComputingAuthor(s): William AspraySource: Isis, Vol. 75, No. 1, Sarton, Science, and History (Mar., 1984), pp. 162-170Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/232367 .

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NEWS OF THE PROFESSION-ISIS, 75 : 1: 276 (1984) NEWS OF THE PROFESSION-ISIS, 75 : 1: 276 (1984)

involvement and support a similar formally appointed committee to watch over and advise on problems and progress in the documentation of science and technology.

When funding agencies receive proposals for documentary research, they should give priority to those that examine characteris- tics in more than one type of institutional setting. Additionally, in a period of limited funds for documentary and archival projects, when considering proposals that re- late directly to work on records, funding agencies should give priority to projects that aid in the rescue of records in danger of permanent loss.

Chapter 6. Research in Documentation: Needs and Opportunities. This chapter rec- ognizes the pressing need for research re- lating specifically to science and technology documentation. Possible locations for such research are the discipline-based history centers and the universities, and, in the future, schools of library science. Re- search also can take place within specific archival repositories, or be carried out by individuals (historians, social scientists, and archivists).

Research is especially needed on the fol- lowing general topics: the generation of scientific and technological records, considered in relation to disciplines, institutional settings, and research organization and objectives; the use of scientific and

involvement and support a similar formally appointed committee to watch over and advise on problems and progress in the documentation of science and technology.

When funding agencies receive proposals for documentary research, they should give priority to those that examine characteris- tics in more than one type of institutional setting. Additionally, in a period of limited funds for documentary and archival projects, when considering proposals that re- late directly to work on records, funding agencies should give priority to projects that aid in the rescue of records in danger of permanent loss.

Chapter 6. Research in Documentation: Needs and Opportunities. This chapter rec- ognizes the pressing need for research re- lating specifically to science and technology documentation. Possible locations for such research are the discipline-based history centers and the universities, and, in the future, schools of library science. Re- search also can take place within specific archival repositories, or be carried out by individuals (historians, social scientists, and archivists).

Research is especially needed on the fol- lowing general topics: the generation of scientific and technological records, considered in relation to disciplines, institutional settings, and research organization and objectives; the use of scientific and

technological records, including studies of the literature, historiography, research strategies and documentation patterns of historians, and studies of the use of particular repositories by different groups and for different purposes; problems posed by special kinds of records, especially data records, and including strategies for sam- pling; and other appraisal-related studies, outlined in the report.

Two possible research strategies are discussed. In the first a wide range of relevant documentation in various research sectors and related to particular events or developments is considered. The second con- centrates instead on the range of documentation produced within a single institution. Both approaches are recommended as having special and complementary merit, but no claim is made that these are the only acceptable research strategies.

The report is distributed by the Society of American Archivists, 600 S. Federal Street, Suite 504, Chicago, Illinois 60605. Price is $1.50 per copy, prepaid (payable to the SAA). For orders that require billing, there is an additional charge of $1.50 ($3.00 total).

CLARK A. ELLIOTT Harvard University Archives

Harvard University Library Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

technological records, including studies of the literature, historiography, research strategies and documentation patterns of historians, and studies of the use of particular repositories by different groups and for different purposes; problems posed by special kinds of records, especially data records, and including strategies for sam- pling; and other appraisal-related studies, outlined in the report.

Two possible research strategies are discussed. In the first a wide range of relevant documentation in various research sectors and related to particular events or developments is considered. The second con- centrates instead on the range of documentation produced within a single institution. Both approaches are recommended as having special and complementary merit, but no claim is made that these are the only acceptable research strategies.

The report is distributed by the Society of American Archivists, 600 S. Federal Street, Suite 504, Chicago, Illinois 60605. Price is $1.50 per copy, prepaid (payable to the SAA). For orders that require billing, there is an additional charge of $1.50 ($3.00 total).

CLARK A. ELLIOTT Harvard University Archives

Harvard University Library Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

LITERATURE AND INSTITUTIONS IN THE HISTORY OF COMPUTING LITERATURE AND INSTITUTIONS IN THE HISTORY OF COMPUTING

The history of computing offers excellent opportunities to historians of science and technology. The rapid growth of the computer in the short span of four decades means that scholars have both extensive records to examine and numerous people to interview. Computers and telecommu- nications have had significant impact on individuals and institutions worldwide. The computer also offers a prime example of industrially based science and technology. Its rapid advance, its multifarious roots, and its interdisciplinary nature render it an excellent subject for the study of technological innovation, transfer, and diffusion. Not least, there are many research and employment opportunities, especially for beginning scholars.

As a concerted professional activity, the

The history of computing offers excellent opportunities to historians of science and technology. The rapid growth of the computer in the short span of four decades means that scholars have both extensive records to examine and numerous people to interview. Computers and telecommu- nications have had significant impact on individuals and institutions worldwide. The computer also offers a prime example of industrially based science and technology. Its rapid advance, its multifarious roots, and its interdisciplinary nature render it an excellent subject for the study of technological innovation, transfer, and diffusion. Not least, there are many research and employment opportunities, especially for beginning scholars.

As a concerted professional activity, the

history of computing dates only from 1967, when the computer organization AFIPS (American Federation of Information Pro- cessing Societies) signed a contract with the Smithsonian Institution to produce oral histories of computer pioneers. The agreement was at least partly the result of the twentieth-anniversary meeting of the As- sociation for Computing Machinery (ACM, a constituent society of AFIPS), which brought together a number of computer pioneers. However, ACM members Isaac Auerbach (Auerbach Publishers), Walter Carlson (IBM), and Cuthbert Hurd (IBM), as well as Smithsonian curator Uta Merz- bach, had already begun to collect materials and artifacts. The oral history project remained active until 1973. In the mean- time AFIPS formed a committee on the

history of computing dates only from 1967, when the computer organization AFIPS (American Federation of Information Pro- cessing Societies) signed a contract with the Smithsonian Institution to produce oral histories of computer pioneers. The agreement was at least partly the result of the twentieth-anniversary meeting of the As- sociation for Computing Machinery (ACM, a constituent society of AFIPS), which brought together a number of computer pioneers. However, ACM members Isaac Auerbach (Auerbach Publishers), Walter Carlson (IBM), and Cuthbert Hurd (IBM), as well as Smithsonian curator Uta Merz- bach, had already begun to collect materials and artifacts. The oral history project remained active until 1973. In the mean- time AFIPS formed a committee on the

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history of computing. A new burst of en- ergy occurred in the late 1970s with the formation of the Charles Babbage Institute, the Computer Museum, and the journal Annals of the History of Computing.

Like all new endeavors, the history of computing suffers growing pains from being so new: there are few professional role models-either for scholars or of scholarly research-directly in the history of computing, literature is spotty in coverage and quality, source materials are scattered and unorganized, and few edu- cational programs have been established. Nonetheless, the discipline has unusually good lines of communication, there is broad interest within and participation by the computer community, and some finan- cial support has been forthcoming.

Perhaps the most important activities have been Baconian in character. There have been concerted and systematic attempts to locate and collect source data (machines, software, correspondence, oral histories) from which historical analysis may proceed. It is a crucial period for this type of activity. Many computer pioneers are aged, and stories abound of historic equipment having been saved just as it was to be carted off for scrap. It is generally recognized that in twenty years other, similar source materials are unlikely to exist unless action is taken soon. AFIPS, the Charles Babbage Institute, the Computer Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and computer manufacturers, as well as individuals in academia, government, and industry, are assisting with this work.

It is a credit to the computing industry that its practitioners recognized as early as they did-and have supported as well as they have-the collection and preservation of source materials. A great deal needs to be done in a short time, however, and only a few people are now actively involved. There is a pressing need to identify and preserve significant documentation and to provide appropriate facilities for their re- tention at academic, government, and industrial institutions. But professional historians and archivists cannot do all of the collecting on their own: their role must be to educate and advise individuals and institutions on collection and preservation.

Although collection is a vital first step, it is of course not the only enterprise nec- essary for doing history. Thus far, those engaged in the history of computing have

not concentrated much on historical analysis. Much of what passes for "history" is simply a chronological narrative of events. There are clear and understandable reasons for this. Many computer scientists have been more concerned that the material be preserved than that it be used. Much of the historical research and writing has been done by computer professionals with little historical training. Few professionally trained historians have turned their attention to this area.

Most historical writing by computer professionals concerns particular developments with which they were involved in the past; often development of particular machines or, occasionally, software innovations. Their articles tend to present solid descriptions of technical details which, along with anecdotes, often provide the reader with some appreciation for the thoughts of the developers at the time. But computer professionals tend to be less concerned with or reliable regarding questions of commercial and scientific applications of machines, institutional and economic con- texts of development, social diffusion and consequences, and comparison of com- peting technologies. There is a need for economic, institutional, regulatory, and social history written by rigorously trained historical scholars, which could be integrated with the technical understanding of- fered by computer professionals.

Progress is being made. A few established historians (notably I. Bernard Cohen, Arthur Norberg, and Thomas Smith) are already committed to developing the history of computing. A first crop of young historians (including William As- pray, Martin Campbell-Kelly, Paul Ce- ruzzi, and Nancy Stern) has emerged to participate in this work. The number of historical articles published each year is growing steadily. There are now several archival repositories and databases in formation, a professional journal, a museum, and a research institute dedicated to this history. As a few good books and articles appear, and as good advice becomes available on selection, preservation, and use of source materials, the number of good historical studies will undoubtedly increase.

LITERATURE

Bibliographies. Brian Randall has collected a valuable bibliography of primary

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and some secondary literature on the history of computing machine technology, published in the first volume of the Annals of the History of Computing and updated in the revised editions of his sourcebook Origins of Digital Computers. James Cor- tada has also compiled a useful bibliography, although annotations and subject cate- gorizations are not entirely reliable. In 1970 W. W. Youden prepared a bibliography of published primary sources 1946-1967, originally written for computer scientists but useful to historians.' Two other bibliographies as yet available only in draft, by Hugh G. J. Aitken and Robert B. Stod- dard, the other by Edward Tebbenhoff, provide additional sources.2

Textbooks. While there are many general books on the history of computing, most survey history courses on computing have used either Herman Goldstine's The Com- puter from Pascal to von Neumann or The Origins of Digital Computers, edited by Brian Randell.3 Neither is entirely satisfac- tory. The Goldstine book is too selective in coverage, and some critics feel it is overly favorable to von Neumann's contributions, while the Randell volume is a sourcebook rather than a historical survey. Two forthcoming texts should help solve this problem: Michael Williams, A History of Computing Technology, and William As- pray, Allan Bromley, Martin Campbell-

' Brian Randell, "An Annotated Bibliography on the Origins of Computers," Annals of the History of Computing, 1979, 1:101-207; Ran- dell, The Origins of Digital Computers: Selected Papers (3rd ed., New York: Springer-Verlag, 1982); James Cortada, An Annotated Bibliog- raphy on the History of Data Processing (West- port, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1983); W. W. Youden, Computer Literature Bibliography 1946-1967, two vols. in one (New York: Arno Press, 1970).

2 Hugh G. J. Aiken and Robert B. Stoddard, "The History of Computers and Computer Lan- guages: A Preliminary Bibliography," 1982, available through the Economics Department, Amherst College, Amherst, Mass. 01002; Ed- ward H. Tebbenhoff, "Bibliography of Writings on the History of Computing," Occasional Paper 1, Working Draft for Review, 1983, available from the Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. 55455.

3 Herman Goldstine, The Computer From Pascal to von Neumann (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1972).

Kelly, Paul Ceruzzi, and Michael Williams, History of Computing.4

Hardware Literature. Most people think first of machines when they think of the history of computing, and in fact the technical history of hardware has received the most attention in the history of computing. Most early American and British computers are amply covered by articles in the Annals of the History of Computing, the Randall volume, S. Lavington's Early British Computers, and History of Com- puting in the Twentieth Century, edited by N. Metropolis, J. Howlett, and Gian-Carlo Rota.5 Less material is available on developments in other countries and on commercial products since 1965-perhaps because many computer scientists feel that one cannot write histories of events less than fifteen years old.

Innovations in hardware components have received less attention than hardware systems. For example, the early search for adequate memory devices is an important yet untold story. Also yet to be undertaken is a study both technical and economic of the transfer of technologies, in terms of diffusion and effects, as the computer industry moved from the technology of the vacuum tube to the transistor, integrated circuit, and larger-scale integration. Nor does any historical work currently exist that describes the computer's debt to radar, radio, and other existing technologies. Without these types of studies, one has the view of the historical development as a series of heroic inventions. In this area, the history of computing could ben- efit from the more mature methodology of the more studied areas of the history of technology.

Software Literature. Although there is less technical history of software than of hardware, it tends to be of the same character, with many of the same strengths and weaknesses. Of all software developments,

4 Michael Williams, A History of Computing Technology (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, forthcoming); William Aspray et al., "His- tory of Computing" (forthcoming).

5 N. Metropolis, J. Howlett, and Gian-Carlo Rota, eds., A History of Computing in the Twentieth Century (New York: Academic Press, 1980); S. H. Lavington, Early British Computers (Manchester: Manchester Univ. Press, 1980).

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programming languages have received the most attention. History of Programming Languages, edited by Richard Wexelblatt, provides a good introduction to the original developments of the major languages. An- nals of the History of Computing has published important studies by Martin Camp- bell-Kelly on early British programming and an entire volume edited by J. A. N. Lee and Henry Tropp on the history of FORTRAN.6 Other treatments of the major languages appear throughout Annals and the Metropolis, Howlett, and Rota volume. There is less literature on the technical history of operating systems, compilers, and other large systems and applications software, and on the technical comparisons between languages.

The current literature is narrowly focused on technical innovations. It seldom addresses the fact that these innovations are shaped as much by economic consid- erations, legal requirements, and users' needs as by purely technical consider- ations. Wanting are examinations of the standardization, diffusion, and institution- alization of software. For example, no studies are available of how languages move out of the research laboratory and into use. Nor are there historical studies of the economics of software design and im- plementation, including the production of large-systems software and the growth of an independent software industry.

Applications Literature. The literature has focused primarily on the technical specifications of hardware and software, and not on how the equipment is used to solve problems. One way of identifying the use of computers is to investigate applications software. What has been written about applications is found mostly in passing comments in studies of particular machines. A few articles have appeared on the uses of computing machinery, for ex-

6 Richard L. Wexelblatt, ed., History of Pro- gramming Languages (New York: Academic Press, 1981); Martin Campbell-Kelly, "Program- ming the EDSAC" Ann. Hist. Comput. 1980, 2:7-36; Campbell-Kelly, "Programming the Pilot ACE at the National Physical Laboratory," ibid., 1981, 3:133-162; Campbell-Kelly, "The Development of Computer Programming in Britain (1945-1955)," ibid., 1982, 4:121-139; J. A. N. Lee and Henry Tropp, editors, special FORTRAN issue, ibid., 1980, 2(3).

ample on computing in meterology, and on professional user groups like SHARE.7 In addition to the basic examination of how and when applications software appeared and who supplied it, the literature has yet to address the question of whether user needs or technological feasibility drove technological innovation. One way of ap- proaching this problem would be to consider how applications have affected the development of hardware and software and, conversely, how the development of electronic computing has affected data processing, applied mathematics and science, and business organization.

Theoretical Computer Science Litera- ture. With the exception of a substantial body of popular literature on artificial intelligence, little has been published on the attempts to build up a theoretical frame- work for a science of computing. The main contributions consist of a few older sur- veys, several recent popular accounts of artificial intelligence developments, and a few scholarly historical articles and doc- toral dissertations on the subject.8 Other areas important to the theoretical under- pinnings of computer science, including au- tomata and complexity theory, theory of discrete structures, algorithm design, and cognitive science, as well as the origins of these new fields out of more established scientific and engineering disciplines, have yet to receive attention.

Institutional, Economic, and Regula- tory History. While historians of science and technology have studied institutional,

7 See, e.g., G. Platzman, "The ENIAC Com- putations of 1950-Gateway to Numerical Weather Prediction," Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 1979, 60:302-312; Paul Armer, "SHARE-A Eulogy to Cooperative Ef- fort," Ann. Hist. Comput., 1980, 2:122-129.

8 See, e.g., respectively, Edward Feigenbaum and Julian Feldman, eds., Computers and Thought (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963); Pam- ela McCorduck, Machines Who Think (San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1979); Ronald V. Book, editor, special issue on The Development of Theoretical Computer Science, Ann. Hist. Comput., 1981, 3(1); and William F. Aspray, Jr., "From Mathematical Constructivity to Com- puter Science: Alan Turing, John von Neumann, and the Origins of Computer Science in Mathe- matical Logic" (Ph.D. diss., Univ. Wisconsin, Madison, 1980).

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economic, and regulatory history in recent years, especially as they investigate projects with large labor and capital invest- ment, the trend has not yet percolated to the history of computing. The best historical works along these lines are Kent Red- mond and Thomas Smith's Project Whirl- wind, and Nancy Stern's From ENIAC to UNIVAC. While almost all innovation and development has taken place either in government-supported laboratories or in pri- vate industry, little research has been con- ducted on how costs, markets, team work, and government support have affected the development of the computer industry. The most substantial general economic histories of the computer industry have been prepared by Gerald Brock, A. Harmon, and J. T. Soma. Also of interest are C. P. Lecht's The Waves of Change and Montgomery Phister's Data Processing Technology and Economics.9 No comprehensive study ex- ists of the effects of regulation and litiga- tion on the industry. Nor is there adequate research on computer education, communication, and professionalization.

Social History. Social history of computing is an oft-mentioned but little-re- searched area. While many new computers and society texts are published each year, there is little new research on which these can be based. In the case of the social consequences of computer technology Joseph Weizenbaum's Computer Power and Hu- man Reason and Abbe Moschowitz's The Conquest of Will continue to be widely

9 Kent C. Redmond and Thomas M. Smith, Project Whirlwind: The History of a Pioneer Computer (Bedford, Mass.: Digital Press, 1980); Nancy Ster, From ENIAC to UNIVAC: An Appraisal of the Eckert-Mauchly Computers (Bedford, Mass.: Digital Press, 1981); Gerald W. Brock, The U.S. Computer Industry: A Study of Market Power (Cambridge, Mass.: Ballinger, 1975); A. Harmon, The International Computer Industry (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1970); J. T. Soma, The Computer In- dustry (Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books, 1976); C. P. Lecht, The Waves of Change: A Techno-Economic Analysis of the Data Pro- cessing (New York: Advanced Computer Tech- niques Corporation, 1977); Montgomery Phister, Jr., Data Processing Technology and Economics (Santa Monica, Calif.: Santa Monica Publishing, 1976; 2nd ed. 1979).

read and discussed.'l Also addressing these issues are compendia, journalistic-style accounts, and computers and society texts.11 For an understanding of the impact of computing technology on individuals and institutions, or of the social diffusion of the new technology as it moved out of the laboratory and into use, substantial scholarly research is needed.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

The history of computing, although a young discipline, has already evolved an impressive structure. Several special series and a new journal are available as outlets for the research outlined above. Other institutions provide sources and material support for that research. The organiza- tions with daily involvement in the history of computing are the Charles Babbage In- stitute, the Computer Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution. AFIPS has an active and longstanding History of Comput- ing Committee, and other historical foun- dations and centers like the Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation and the IEEE History Center are occasionally involved in the field.

Publishing Ventures. Begun in 1979, the Annals of the History of Computing is the first professional journal dedicated to the history of computing. Sponsored by AFIPS through the History of Computing Com- mittee, the journal accentuates technical history, and its editorial board primarily comprises computer scientists. In addition to scholarly historical articles, the journal

10 Joseph Weizenbaum, Computer Power and Human Reason (San Francisco: W. H. Freeman, 1976); Abbe Moschowitz, The Conquest of Will: Information Processing in Human Affairs (Reading, Mass.: Addison Wesley, 1976).

ll E.g., respectively, (1) Tom Forester, ed., The Microelectronics Revolution (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1981), Michael L. Dertouzos and Joel Moses, eds., The Computer Age: A Twenty Year View (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1979); (2) Dirk Hanson, The New Alche- mists (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1982); Katherine Davis Fishman, The Computer Establishment (New York: McGraw Hill, 1981); and (3) Tom Logsdon, Computers and Social Controversy (Rockville, Md.: Computer Science Press, 1980).

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publishes valuable personal reminiscences of computer pioneers, reviews of books and meetings, news of the profession, queries, and editorials and commentary. Although it is a young journal in a young discipline, its editors have maintained com- mendably high technical standards.

One recognition of the growing maturity of and interest in the history of computing is the decision by several publishers to establish series in the history of computing. Digital Press, Greenwood Press, MIT Press, and Tomash Publications all have begun series in the past five years. The leader is MIT Press, which publishes a series of historical monographs and biographies (I. Bernard Cohen, editor) and, in conjunction with Tomash Publications, a series of re- prints of classic works with a new historical introductions (Martin Campbell-Kelly, editor).

Charles Babbage Institute. The Charles Babbage Institute, a research institute located at the University of Minnesota (Min- neapolis) and sponsored in part by AFIPS and the information-processing community, was founded in Palo Alto, California, in 1978 by Erwin Tomash (Chairman of the Board, Dataproducts). In its first several years, under the direction of Paul Armer, much of CBI's time was spent locating corporate sponsors, publicizing the field and the institute, establishing ties within the industry, and settling into its institutional home at Minnesota. However, CBI quickly established itself as a clearinghouse for information about the history of computing and began a predoctoral fellowship program in the history of computing, appli- cable for graduate study at any university.

In 1981 Arthur Norberg accepted the di- rectorship of CBI. Unlike most researchers, whose main concern is for the technical development of software and hardware, Norberg has directed CBI efforts towards interweaving institutional, economic, and to a lesser degree, broader social factors into the rapidly increasing knowledge of the technical history. He is especially concerned with studying the computer industry.

Under Norberg's direction, the institute has focused on three goals: to establish a national collection of archival material in the history of computing; to be an information clearinghouse for the field; and to

be a contemporary history research center. To these ends CBI continues the fellowship program (awarded so far to William As- pray, Paul Ceruzzi, William McHenry, and Larry Owens); sponsors a Professional In- ternship for social scientists, other academics, and archivists who want to learn about the history of computing through an internship at the Institute; employs graduate students to assist with research on bibliography and on the history of the computing industry; conducts oral histories of both scientists and managers from the computer industry; sponsors a reprint series of historical classics in conjunction with Tomash Publications and MIT Press; and is developing a computerized database of sources in the history of computing. CBI supports the field in many other ways. It runs conferences, offers expert advice to companies on archives and history, and supports a textbook project and work at the Contemporary Scientific Archives Center in Oxford.

CBI maintains a reading room for public use of its archival collection. The rapidly expanding archives currently include approximately one thousand volumes and one thousand linear feet of archival records, including corporate records, personal papers, special reports, periodicals, and technical documentation of hardware, software, and applications. CBI also holds a collection of over three thousand photographs and sixty processed oral histories. In an arrangement with the Computer Museum, CBI leaves to the museum the collection of artifacts and film materials. The Institute staff has also generated files on over eight hundred companies and two hundred individuals, and prepared finding aids, collection development strategies, and a card file on over nine thousand computer papers published since 1940.12

Computer Museum. Founded in 1980 as an arm of Digital Equipment Corporation, the museum, currently located in Marlbor- ough, Massachusetts, became a nonprofit organization dissociated from DEC in 1982. Under the direction of Gwen Bell, the mu-

12 See also Nancy Ann Roth, "Charles Bab- bage Institute Preserves Info Processing's Rich History," Data Management Nov. 83, pp. 44- 45.

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seum has collected and displays old computer hardware of many vendors. Notable among museum efforts are a continuing series of interpretive lectures on the evo- lution of computing, with many by distin- guished pioneers; its willingness to act as a repository of last resort for artifacts and closely related materials; and its archival collection. Complementary to the Babbage Institute collection, the Computer Museum holdings are primarily artifacts, ranging from an integrated circuit to some thirty thousand pounds of the SAGE computer. The strength of the museum's collection is post-1945 electronic computers, but it does include slide rules and other analogue devices and a few earlier historic machines. Supporting the artifacts collection are over one hundred videotapes (primarily of computer pioneers who have lectured at the museum), several thousand slides, several thousand photographs, twenty vintage films, and paper documentation including operators' manuals, complete machine specifications, major papers, monographs, and books. Although the museum's primary focus is not on research, it has sponsored three major research projects. Gordon Bell and the museum staff have completed a historical taxonomy. Paul Ce- ruzzi, under contract for the museum, has produced an updated, corrected, and annotated version of the famous Weik survey of computing machinery of the 1940s and early 1950s. Dan Klein is reproducing in- struction sets so that all the classic machines may be simulated at the museum on moder computers.

The museum offers student internships of three to eighteen months' duration, including many during the summer months. The students do background research and help produce museum displays, and both graduate and advanced undergraduate students have found the work a valuable learning experience.

During 1984 the museum will move to downtown Boston from its somewhat in- convenient location in Marlborough. It will reopen to members in the summer and to the general public in the fall. Only members will have access to the library, archives, and artifacts not on display.

AFIPS History of Computing Com- mittee (HOCC). The AFIPS History of Computing Committee was first organized

in 1967 in connection with the joint Smith- sonian oral history project run by Uta Merzbach (Smithsonian) from 1967 to 1971 and by Henry Tropp (Humboldt State) from 1971 to its termination in 1973. The committee was revitalized under the direction of Jean Sammet (IBM) in 1977, when several groups seriously began to consider a major archival program; the outcome was an agreement that AFIPS would support the program of the newly founded Charles Babbage Institute. The History of Com- puting Committee has organized and supported each year since 1974 the National Computer Conference Pioneer Day (see below). The committee also sponsors lectures and filmstrips and serves as a liaison between the historical community and the constituent professional societies of computer scientists comprising AFIPS; it has recently established a student essay competition similar to the Schumann Prize competition. Perhaps HOCC's most lasting contribution is its sponsorship of a professional journal dedicated to the field, Annals of the History of Computing (edited by Bernard Galler, Michigan).

NCC Pioneer Day. Each year at the Na- tional Computer Conference a day is devoted to a special historical topic (e.g., FORTRAN, SHARE, UNIVAC 1, Howard Aiken and the Harvard Compu- tation Laboratory). Because of the large at- tendance at NCC, at times exceeding 100,000, this has proved an effective means for publicizing the history of computing to the computer industry. Pioneer Day activities include public lectures, social events for pioneers, and in recent years public ex- hibits. At first the event's primary function was to allow pioneers to assemble and cel- ebrate together. In more recent years HOCC has worked towards making Pi- oneer Days produce lasting historical materials. For example, Pioneer Day 1982, on FORTRAN, produced old documents and new historical accounts from several pioneers, articles for Annals, a book on the history of FORTRAN, an exhibit (now in the Virginia Polytechnic Institute archives), and a film produced by IBM in- terviewing the pioneers. Pioneer Day 1984, to be held in Las Vegas in July, will feature computing at Lawrence Livermore Labo- ratory.

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Smithsonian Institution. Under the direction of Uta Merzbach, curator of the Di- vision of Mathematics, the National Mu- seum of American History has produced a major exhibit and collection of calculating devices and computers. The public exhibit, which represents only about one percent of the museum's computer collection, was first set up in 1965, with several small ad- ditions made in the 1970s. A major reno- vation of the exhibit is a high priority of the museum administration.

The museum holds the largest collection in the world of post-1850 computing devices and machines. The collection num- bers approximately 20,000 items, counting both documentation and artifacts, and in- cludes mechanical calculators, slide rules, planimeters, other analogue devices, and representative components of historic electronic machines beginning with ENIAC. There are a few pre-1850 pieces, such as a fine 1820 Thomas arithmometre. In addition, the museum holds approximately 230 oral interviews, some 40 percent of which are open for public use.

The collection is open for scholarly study. Because of the limited staff and the nature of storage facilities, arrangements to use the collection should be made in advance. Smithsonian Fellowships may be used for more extended periods of study.

Industry Activities. The industry has been an active supporter of the historical move- ment. There are many corporate sponsors of both the Babbage Institute and the Computer Museum. IBM and Sperry, in particular, have been strong supporters of Pioneer Day. Several companies, most notably IBM, have devoted great time and expense to producing technical histories of their involvement in the computing field. Over the next several years IBM will produce a series of books on its technical history. The company has also recently opened a historical exhibit at its headquar- ters in New York City with an especially impressive collection of seventeenth-century mechanical computing devices. Very few companies are yet willing to produce histories incorporating marketing and fi- nancial with technical information. Nor have many companies yet hired professional historians or archivists to help preserve their records and chronicle their his-

tories. But there is an increasing dialogue between companies and historians.

CONCLUSIONS

There are bountiful opportunities for employment and fruitful research in this young but growing field. To take full ad- vantage of these opportunities, however, requires the recognition that the field dif- fers in character from the areas of academic science more traditionally studied by historians of science. Because of the computer's recent occurrence and its industrial context, the questions of interest, relation between historian and subject, opportunities for historical employment, and even sources take on added significance. Ques- tions of interest will arise as historians turn from the discoveries of great men to the work of research and development teams within companies, and to economic and legal as well as technical pressures on innovation and product development. Com- puter historians will have to work hard to establish close ties with industry, which will probably become not only their source of material, but also their source of material wealth. The tendency has been for corporations to distrust academics, and for academics to think that corporate employment would sully their intellectual integ- rity. Both pictures are beginning to change as familiarity breeds understanding. There is an excellent opportunity for historians to assist the industrial world with records management and with its public image while gaining in return employment and access to some of the most important records of developments in modern technology.

The problem of sources offers the historian of science a number of new chal- lenges. An accurate assessment of computer developments requires an examination of records of individual companies and government agencies, as well as aggregated data about the industry. Too many, rather than too few, sources confront the historian. IBM alone holds over two million linear feet of archival records. There are also problems of access. Corporate lawyers and records managers serve not only to make information available to the company when needed, but also to insure that records are not available to outsiders which would harm the company's reputation,

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compromise the security of proprietary information, or open the company to litiga- tion. Companies often retain information, like personnel records, of marginal interest to the historian, while destroying more his- torically interesting information on marketing strategy and "failed" projects. Even aggregated records from the early days of the 1940s and 1950s differ so markedly from those of recent times that it is difficult to make meaningful comparisons and trend analyses. Court findings, a major source of information about the computer industry in these litigious times, are hard to evaluate. How is the historian to interpret the court finding that Presper Eckert and John

Mauchly were not the true inventors of the modern computer because of the prior work of John Atanasoff? If historians of science are to capture an understanding of computer development, they will have to resolve these problems in innovative ways.

WILLIAM ASPRAY* Charles Babbage Institute

University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455

* I am grateful to Gwen Bell, Carl Hammer, J. A. N. Lee, Uta Merzbach, Arthur Norberg, Edward Tebbenhoff, and Henry Tropp for information and criticism.

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sarton, science, and history || literature and institutions in the history of computing

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