The John Vincent Atanasoff Archive

(Under Construction)

An Historical Perspective

Throughout much of the last 50 years, John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert have been credited with inventing the electronic digital computer. On October 19, 1973, US Federal Judge Earl R. Larson signed his decision following a lengthy court battle which declared the ENIAC patent invalid and named Atanasoff the inventor of the electronic digital computer -- the ABC. In recent years some authors have attempted to correct historical inaccuracies which have loomed for decades.

Clark Mollenhoff in his book, Atanasoff, Forgotten Father of the Computer, details the design and construction of the Atanasoff-Berry Computer with emphasis on the relationships of the individuals. Mollenhoff also presents an in-depth description of the "gargantuan" court battle waged to determine the validity of the ENIAC patent.

Alice and Arthur Burks in their book, The First Electronic Computer: The Atanasoff Story, too, describe the design and construction of the ABC, but provide more technical perspective on its operation than Mollenhoff.

Other journal articles have provided insight into this controversial subject.

National Recognition of His Achievement

On November 13, 1990, Atanasoff was awarded the distinguished National Medal of Technology by President George Bush in a ceremony at the White House.

Washington Post Obituary

Other Atanasoff Archives

The Virtual Musuem of Computing has the John V. Atanasoff Obituary online as well as a listing of other Pioneers of Computing .