The First Electronic Computer: The Atanasoff Story

by Alice R. Burks and Arthur W. Burks

[Copied without permission from the inside front jacket of the book. Copyright by The University of Michigan 1988; Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available ]

This is the story of the electronic computer that launched the computer revolution, a machine completed in 1942 by John Atanasoff but left behind in Iowa for war research in Washington. Drawing on their direct knowledge and on the proceedings of a multimillion- dollar patent trial, the authors upset the commonly held view that the ENIAC was the world's first electronic computer. They detail the Atanasoff computer and its influence on the ENIAC -- indeed, on computers of today -- and they supplement the court's strong findings with both a much-needed technical foundation and a narrative rich with human interest.