American Computer Museum
Encyclopedia
The American Computer Museum is a museum of the history of computing located in Bozeman
, Montana
, USA. It was founded in May 1990 by Barbara and George Keremedjiev as a non-profit organization. The museum was originally intended to have been located in Princeton, New Jersey
, but the location was changed when the founders moved to Bozeman
. It is likely the oldest extant museum dedicated to the history of computers in the world. The Computer Museum
in Boston
opened first, but it closed in 1999.
The museum's mission is:
The American Computer Museum presents (in association with the Computer Science Department of Montana State University) the George R. Stibitz Computer & Communications Pioneer Awards, named for George R. Stibitz, who first used relays for computation in 1937.
Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The 2010 census put Bozeman's population at 37,280 making it the fourth largest city in the state. It is the principal city of the Bozeman micropolitan area, which consists...
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, USA. It was founded in May 1990 by Barbara and George Keremedjiev as a non-profit organization. The museum was originally intended to have been located in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
, but the location was changed when the founders moved to Bozeman
Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The 2010 census put Bozeman's population at 37,280 making it the fourth largest city in the state. It is the principal city of the Bozeman micropolitan area, which consists...
. It is likely the oldest extant museum dedicated to the history of computers in the world. The Computer Museum
The Computer Museum, Boston
The Computer Museum was a Boston, Massachusetts museum that opened in 1979 and operated in three different locations until 1999. It was once referred to as TCM and is sometimes called the Boston Computer Museum....
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
opened first, but it closed in 1999.
The museum's mission is:
"To collect, preserve, interpret, and display the artifacts and history of the information age."
Awards
The American Computer Museum won the Dibner Award for Excellence in Exhibits in 1994.The American Computer Museum presents (in association with the Computer Science Department of Montana State University) the George R. Stibitz Computer & Communications Pioneer Awards, named for George R. Stibitz, who first used relays for computation in 1937.
- Arthur BurksArthur BurksArthur Walter Burks was an American mathematician who in the 1940s as a senior engineer on the project contributed to the design of the ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic digital computer. Decades later, Burks and his wife Alice Burks outlined their case for the subject matter of the...
, Chuan Chu, Jack KilbyJack KilbyJack St. Clair Kilby was an American physicist who took part in the invention of the integrated circuit while working at Texas Instruments in 1958. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 2000. He is credited with the invention of the integrated circuit or microchip...
, Jerry Merryman, James Van Tassel, Maury Irvine, Eldon Hall, Ted Hoff, Federico FagginFederico FagginFederico Faggin , who received in 2010 the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by Barack Obama, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on scientists, engineers, and inventors, at the White House in Washington, is an Italian-born and naturalized U.S... - Ed RobertsEd Roberts (computers)Henry Edward "Ed" Roberts was an American engineer, entrepreneur and medical doctor who designed the first commercially successful personal computer in 1975. He is most often known as "the father of the personal computer"...
, Doug Engelbart - James HarrisJames HarrisJames Harris is the name of:*James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury , English diplomatist*James Harris, 2nd Earl of Malmesbury , British peer*James Harris, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury , British statesman...
, Vinton G. Cerf, Robert E. Kahn - Steve WozniakSteve WozniakStephen Gary "Woz" Wozniak is an American computer engineer and programmer who founded Apple Computer, Co. with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne...
, Tim Berners-LeeTim Berners-LeeSir Timothy John "Tim" Berners-Lee, , also known as "TimBL", is a British computer scientist, MIT professor and the inventor of the World Wide Web...
, Ray TomlinsonRay TomlinsonRaymond Samuel Tomlinson is a programmer who implemented an email system in 1971 on the ARPANET. Email had been previously sent on other networks such as AUTODIN and PLATO. It was the first system able to send mail between users on different hosts connected to the ARPAnet... - Ted Hoff, Federico FagginFederico FagginFederico Faggin , who received in 2010 the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by Barack Obama, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on scientists, engineers, and inventors, at the White House in Washington, is an Italian-born and naturalized U.S...
and Stan Mazor (together) - Ralph Baer, Martin CooperMartin CooperMartin Cooper is an American former Motorola vice president and division manager who in the 1970s led the team that developed the handheld mobile phone ....
, Leroy HoodLeroy HoodLeroy Hood is an American biologist. He won the 2011 Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize “for automating DNA sequencing that revolutionized biomedicine and forensic science” and the 2003 Lemelson-MIT Prize for inventing "four instruments that have unlocked much of the mystery of human biology" by...
, Klein Gilhousen, James RussellJames RussellJames T. Russell is an American inventor. He earned a BA in physics from Reed College in Portland in 1953. He joined General Electric's nearby labs in Richland, Washington, where he initiated many types of experimental instrumentation...
, Jon Titus -
- Ross Perot
Ross PerotHenry Ross Perot is a U.S. businessman best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988...
, Paul BaranPaul BaranPaul Baran was a Polish American engineer who was a pioneer in the development of computer networks.He invented packet switching techniques, and went on to start several companies and develop other technologies that are an essential part of the Internet and other modern digital...
, John Blankenbaker
- Edward O. Wilson
Items in the museum's collection
- Antikythera mechanismAntikythera mechanismThe Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical computer designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1900–1901 from the Antikythera wreck. Its significance and complexity were not understood until decades later. Its time of construction is now estimated between 150 and 100...
(replica), earliest known geared mechanism, circa 100 B.C. - ArithmometerHistory of computing hardwareThe history of computing hardware is the record of the ongoing effort to make computer hardware faster, cheaper, and capable of storing more data....
, a mechanical calculator - Model K computer (replica)
- Historical documents related to the history of computing such as original copies of Newton's The Enlightenment and Locke's Humane Understanding
- Telegraph, telephone, cash registers, and office equipment
- The IBM 1620IBM 1620The IBM 1620 was announced by IBM on October 21, 1959, and marketed as an inexpensive "scientific computer". After a total production of about two thousand machines, it was withdrawn on November 19, 1970...
, IBM System/360System/360The IBM System/360 was a mainframe computer system family first announced by IBM on April 7, 1964, and sold between 1964 and 1978. It was the first family of computers designed to cover the complete range of applications, from small to large, both commercial and scientific...
, Univac 1004, and other mainframe hardware from the 1960s and 1970s - Analog computers
- Minicomputers
- Signed microcomputing artifacts
- Burroughs 205 (1954)
- Personal computers
- Typewriters
- Mechanical adding machines
- Slide rules
- Hand-held mechanical calculators
- IBM 409 (relay based tabulator)
- IBM 604IBM 604The IBM 604 was a control panel programmable Electronic Calculating Punch introduced in 1948, and was a machine on which considerable expectations for the future of IBM were pinned and in which a corresponding amount of planning talent was invested...
(vacuum tube calculator) - IBM 1620IBM 1620The IBM 1620 was announced by IBM on October 21, 1959, and marketed as an inexpensive "scientific computer". After a total production of about two thousand machines, it was withdrawn on November 19, 1970...
(early transistor machine) - IBM System/360System/360The IBM System/360 was a mainframe computer system family first announced by IBM on April 7, 1964, and sold between 1964 and 1978. It was the first family of computers designed to cover the complete range of applications, from small to large, both commercial and scientific...
mainframe - IBM System/3System/3The IBM System/3 was a low-end business computer aimed at new customers and organizations that still used IBM 1400 series computers or unit record equipment...
computer - PDP-8PDP-8The 12-bit PDP-8 was the first successful commercial minicomputer, produced by Digital Equipment Corporation in the 1960s. DEC introduced it on 22 March 1965, and sold more than 50,000 systems, the most of any computer up to that date. It was the first widely sold computer in the DEC PDP series of...
, PDP-8/1 (desktop minicomputers) - Altair, IMSAI, Commodore PET, SOL, Apple II, III, Lisa, Mac, KIM, SYM (microcomputers)
- Electromechanical/electronic calculators
- Friden, SCM, Monroe, Mathatron, Anita, Wang (electromechanical/electronic calculators)
- Mechanical, electrical, and electronic toys (such as Consul the Educated Monkey (1918), PongPongPong is one of the earliest arcade video games, and is a tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. While other arcade video games such as Computer Space came before it, Pong was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity...
) - An industrial robot
- An Apollo Guidance ComputerApollo Guidance ComputerThe Apollo Guidance Computer provided onboard computation and control for guidance, navigation, and control of the Command Module and Lunar Module spacecraft of the Apollo program...
on loan from the Smithsonian - Displays covering topics such as computer memory (for example: Selectron Tube, core panels, delay lines, etc.), history of electronics, etc.
- A Norden bombsightNorden bombsightThe Norden bombsight was a tachometric bombsight used by the United States Army Air Forces and the United States Navy during World War II, and the United States Air Force in the Korean and the Vietnam Wars to aid the crew of bomber aircraft in dropping bombs accurately...