"The First Electronic Computer: The Atanasoff Story" by Alice R. Burks, Arthur W. Burks (Repost)

If you have heard something like "Atanasoff computer, or Atanasoff-Berry Machine was never built", or "ABC machine was not a computer", then the best thing you should do is to consult this book. It will tell you everything about the ABC machine, including technical details. An exact replica of the original ABC machine was built in 1997, and the team for this project consulted this book, and the authors. This book tells the story of Dr. John Vincent Atanasoff (a Bulgarian name). Dr. Atanasoff was native born in Hamilton, New York, 1903. He is credited by court decision in 1973 with the invention of the computer. The case in dispute was between Honeywell and Sperry Rand for claims of the computer invention. If either party have prevailed, the winner might have had patent rights. IBM was worried and introduced JV (as he was called) who showed that he had invented the computer at Iowa State in 1938 when he was in the mathematics department (JV was a 1930 PhD in physics from the University of Wisconsin). The computer invented belonged to JV and his assistant, Charles Berry (hence the name ABC = Atanasoff Berry Computer). There were several versions built, some in 1939 and in 1940. This book also contains many quotations from the ENIAC patent trial, and you can check yourself the credibility of Atanasoff and Mauchly, and also the credibility of the Judge Larson. Anyone who denounces the ABC machine is either a fake or ignorant; they either ignore this book, or did not read this monumental book. ENIAC owed much to Dr. Atanasoff as Mauchly saw the ABC in visits to Iowa State. Some visits were for several days ("for the better part of a week" was JV's court testimony). Programming and program languages were not part of JV contribution. Dr. Mauchly's own testimony as reproduced in the book shows he grudgedly agreed that he owed ideas and examples to others. The original case was filed in 1968 as Honeywell v. Sperry Rand and Illinois Scientific Developments. Among the almost 100 issues pushed by Honeywell and the ENIAC, the judge, Earl R. Larsen, ruled "Eckert and Mauchly did not themselves first invent the automatic electronic digital computer, but instead derived that subject matter from one Dr. John Vincent Atanasoff". Other equally strong language was used to assert that JV and Berry held nothing back concerning the machine's theory, design, construction, use or operation; that Mauchly went to Ames Iowa and had correspondence with Atanasoff. Judge Larsen's decision was not appealed by anyone. A blessing to us all. Dr. Atanasoff did not realize until late in life that he had done something tremedous. He retired wealthy but not from his computer invention.

Contents
Preface
Introduction
1. A Computer in the Making
Biographical Sketch
Defining His Task
Preliminary Decisions
Atanasoff's Elimination Algorithm
Original Storage Design
Vacuum-Tube Logic
The Memory
The Arithmetic Unit
Electronic Design of the Add-Subtract Mechanism
Timing and Control
Decimal Input-Output and Base Conversion
Intermediate Binary Input-Output
Computation Time
2. Mauchly's Pre-Atanasoff Years
The Evidence
The Harmonic Analyzer
The Cipher Machine
The Two-Neon Device
Ring Counters
Plan for an Electronic Desk Calculator
The Situation as of December, 1940
3. The ENIAC Connection
The ENIAC
The December, 1940, Meeting
The Interim Period
The Situation as of Early June, 1941
Mauchly's June, 1941, Visit to Iowa
The Post-Iowa Period
Mauchly's Testimony in an Earlier Suit
The Mauchly-Eckert Link
An Interpretation
4. Atanasoff's Day in Court
The ENIAC Case
Atanasoff on the Stand
The Decision on Atanasoff
5. Atanasoff's Place in History
A Technological Revolution
Atanasoff's Computer
The Causal Chain
APPENDIX
A. Logic of Electronic Switching
Logic and Electronics
Atomic Switches
Compound Switches
Logical Structure of Adding and Subtracting Circuits
Atanasoff's Atomic Switches
Structure of Atanasoff's Add-Subtract Mechanism
Atanasoff's Place in the History of Computer Switching
B. Response to Kathleen Mauchly
Kathleen Mauchly's Advocacy
The Pre-Atanasoff Years
The Post-Atanasoff Years
References
Index

First paperback edition 1989