Academia

This website provides links to biographies of "Past Notable Women of Mathematics, Past Notable Women of Computing," and a "TAP's Photo Gallery of Women and Computers" (google the latter category term as the website's link is defunct). The website also provides a variety of links to websites that provide computer histories, such as "Bigraphies of Women Mathematicians; The Machine That Changed the World; [and the] MacTutor Histor of Mathematics Archive" (excerpted from the Past Notable Women's website).

Charles Babbage selected correspondence (duplicates, on microfilm)

While Computing Now focuses on hot-topic articles and the latest developments in the technology world, Computing Then is designed to take a step back - to contemplate, explore, celebrate, analyze, and learn from the past. The site draws considerably from articles and documentation of IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, the leading source of scholarship and pioneering accounts in this field. Computing Then presents materials in both traditional (PDFs) and new, multimedia formats (including podcasts). The site will continue to explore new mechanisms and means for producing and distributing a wide variety of content on the history of computing, software, and networking.

Computing and Data Processing Center Records, 1956-1974 In 1947 Wayne State University entered the computer age with the purchase of a mechanical differential analyzer from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Computation Lab was established five years later. Wayne partnered with Burroughs Research Lab to develop the Unitized Digital Electronic computer. An IBM 650 Magnetic Drum Data Processing Machine was used at the University in 1955. The Computation Lab changed its name in 1958 to the Computing Center It continued to expand, and an IBM 1401, 7070/1401, and 1460 were installed. In 1962 the Electronic Data Processing Office merged with the Computing Center, and the Computing and Data Processing Center was formed. Newer and more powerful computers such as the IBM 360 Model 40, IBM 360/65, and IBM 360 Model 67 were installed throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s

1949-1962 One of the first large scale computer laboratories in the United States, the Wayne Computation Laboratory was organized in 1949 via the Industrial Mathematics Society (IMS) as a joint effort between the University and local industry. The Computation Laboratory performed three basic functions: 1) to provide service to industry and business, 2) To conduct academic research, 3) to provide training in computer operations. Initially, the laboratory had a 1930 Bush Differential Analyzer donated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. When it first began operation, the lab solved engineering problems for the automobile industry. A Unitized Digital Electronic Computer (UDEC) was purchased from the Burroughs Corporation and put into operation in December of 1953. Increasing demand upon the laboratory caused the need to purchase an IBM 650 computer in the spring of 1956, with an additional purchase of equipment in 1960.

Computer and Information Science Department RG-25/C9 Computer and Information Science, Dept. of–Technical Reports RG-25/C9/00

The development of Whirlwind I, one of the first large-scale high-speed computers, began during World War II as part of a research project to develop a universal flight trainer that would simulate flight (the Aircraft Stability and Control Analyzer project). It was initiated by the Office of Naval Research and began at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Servomechanisms Laboratory in 1944.

Vannevar Bush collection

Herman H. Goldstine, mathematician, was intimately involved in the design and development of the first electronic computers. The collection includes materials produced or supervised by Dr. Goldstine, or collected by him for use in the preparation of his book on the history of computers.

The Technitrol law suit, 1967-1968, revolved around the question of who developed the magnetic storage drum. These records, which were acquired from Seymour Yutter, the lawyer for Technitrol, include trial transcripts, briefs, depositions and discovery documents that describe the development of magnetic storage technology in the late 1940s and early 1950s.