The Electronic Computer Project at IAS

Materials from the Archives
Published 2011
Cover and pages from a meteorological logbook spanning work on the computer from November 6, 1951 to March 17, 1952
Julian Bigelow, Herman Goldstine, Institute Director J. Robert Oppenheimer, and John von Neumann in front of computer
Diagram of the graphing power supply, 1955
First page of the press release announcing the completion of the computer, distributed in conjunction with the public dedication of the machine, June 10, 1952
Electronic Computer Project engineering group and Institute for Advanced Study leaders, from left to right, Gordon Kent, Ephraim Frei, Gerald Estrin, Lewis Strauss (Institute Trustee), J. Robert Oppenheimer (Institute Director), Richard Melville, Julian Bigelow, Norman Emslie, James Pomerene, Hewitt Crane, and John von Neumann
Staff members of the Electronic Computer Project, including Lambert Rockefellow, Elizabeth C. Wooden, Norma Gilbarg, Hedvig Selberg, Frank E. Fell, Hewitt Crane, Richard W. Melville, Ephraim H. Frei, Margaret Lambe, Peter Panagos, Gordon Kent, Norman Phillips, Herman Goldstine, James Pomerene, Julian Bigelow, and Gerald Estrin
Barricelli "blueprint" – George Dyson describes the process for creating these blueprints in his book, Turing's Cathedral: "Five out of every one hundred generations of numerical symbioorganisms were sampled and the data transferred to punched cards, assembled into an array, and contact-printed onto blueprint paper, leaving the imprint visible here."
Shelby White and Leon Levy Archives Center
Handwritten note and examples of punch cards related to Nils Barricelli’s work using the IAS computer
In Turing's Cathedral, George Dyson describes this photo as: "When RCA’s Selectron failed to materialize on schedule, the IAS team, led by James Pomerene, adapted over-the-counter 5-inch cathode-ray oscilloscope tubes into a fully random-access memory based on the Williams-Kilburn ideas. The obstacle to achieving high-speed digital storage was less a memory problem than a switching problem, solved by using the 2-axis analog deflection of an electron beam as a 1,024-position switch."
Leon Harmon and computer
Norman Phillips next to the computer. George Dyson describes the photograph as: "The MANIAC in 1952, arranged like a V-40 engine with overhead valves, was about 8 feet in length, 6 feet high, 2 feet in width; consumed about 19.5 kilowatts of electricity; and ran at about 16 kilocycles at full speed. The lucite covers over the registers improve the flow of air being exhausted at a rate of 1,800 cubic feet per minute through the overhead ducts."
Frontal view of computer 
Leon Harmon reading output from the computer
Leon Harmon holding paper tape from the input unit
Cover and pages from a meteorological logbook spanning work on the computer from November 6, 1951 to March 17, 1952
Pages from a project report, Planning and Coding of Problems for an Electronic Computing Instrument – Report on the Mathematical and Logical Aspects of an Electronic Computing Instrument, April 1947, written by Herman Goldstine and John von Neumann, that describe how a mathematical problem would be coded for input into the computer
Pages from a project report, Planning and Coding of Problems for an Electronic Computing Instrument – Report on the Mathematical and Logical Aspects of an Electronic Computing Instrument, April 1947, written by Herman Goldstine and John von Neumann, that describe how a mathematical problem would be coded for input into the computer

The Electronic Computer Project (ECP) that was based at the Institute from 1945 to 1957 produced one of the world’s first large computers, and the very first with a stored-program design. 

The project was led by IAS Professor John von Neumann, who made the ECP reports, describing the specifications and design principles for the machine, freely and widely available and placed all the ideas for the project in the public domain rather than patenting them, a project that promoted the ideals of Open Access long before such a notion even existed.

This exhibit marks the publication of Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe by George Dyson in March 2012. Dyson did extensive research in the collections held by the Institute’s Archives during his stay as a Director’s Visitor in 2002-03 and in the years since, giving us a much richer and deeper understanding of this important chapter in Institute history.

For a profile of the Electronic Computer Project, see www.ias.edu/electronic-computer-project. The illustrations are all from the Shelby White and Leon Levy Archives Center at the Institute. For more information, please call 609-734-8375 or email archives@ias.edu.

Exhibition