Howard Aiken

Howard Aiken is considered one of the pioneers of the computer field, being
the primary engineer behind IBM's Harvard Mark I computer. He was born on
March 9, 1900 in Hoboken, New Jersey and passed away on March 14, 1973 in
St. Louis, Missouri.

He studied at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and later obtained his
PhD in physics at Harvard University in 1939. During this time he
encountered differential equations that he could only solve numerically. As
such, he envisioned an electro-mechanical computing device that could do
much of the tedious work for him. This computer was originally called the
Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) and later renamed Harvard
Mark I. With help from Grace Hopper and funding from IBM the machine was
completed in 1944. In 1947, Aiken completed his work on the fully electronic
Mark II computer.

He is also well known for his 1947 comment, "Only six electronic digital
computers would be required to satisfy the computing needs of the entire
United States."

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