John Mauchly
John W. Mauchly
The trail that led to the design, creation and operation of the first large-scale computer designed for general numerical computations originates with John W. Mauchly. The inspiration for the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, or ENIAC, occurred in the early 1930?s when Mauchly, long frustrated with the slow pace of traditional calculators, began thinking of building his own calculating machine. Calculators of the time took approximately ten seconds to complete a computation after the enter button was pressed. He wanted a ?machine that could perform the calculations as fast as the numbers could be input? (McCartney). When his idea was realized in 1946, the creation of this calculating machine would forever change the world. To understand and appreciate the legacy Mauchly left behind, we will take a brief look at his life, including his formative years, his education, and his career.
John Mauchly was born August 30, 1907 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Sebastian and Rachel Mauchly. Sebastian Mauchly had a PhD in physics from the University of Cincinnati and in 1913 the
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