IEEE Annals of the History of Computing
Encyclopedia
The IEEE Annals of the History of Computing is a quarterly journal
published by the IEEE
Computer Society
. It contains peer-reviewed articles and other contributions on the history of computing
, computer science
and computer hardware by computer scientists
and historians
. It is widely considered to be the leading journal in this field.
The first issue of the Annals appeared in July 1979, edited by Bernard Galler
. It included articles by Nancy Stern about the history of the BINAC
, John Backus
on the history of FORTRAN
, I.J. Good on the early computers built at Bletchley Park
, and F.J. Gruenberger on the history of the JOHNNIAC
. With the computer industry more than 30 years old in the 1970s, the history of computing had become a hot topic with the revelation of the Colossi
in England
—electronic digital computers that predated the ENIAC
in the United States
—and the controversy spawned by the Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
decision, which invalidated the ENIAC patent. The journal became an IEEE publication in 1992.
The journal publishes scholarship in computing history, interviews and memoirs by computer pioneers, and news and events in the field worldwide. Recently, in the July-September 2011 issue, Annals published the first full account of "Koomey's Law
", an observation akin to Moore's Law
focusing on energy efficiencies in computing.
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
published by the IEEE
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...
Computer Society
IEEE Computer Society
The IEEE Computer Society is a professional society of IEEE. Its purpose and scope is “to advance the theory, practice, and application of computer and information processing science and technology” and the “professional standing of its members.” The CS is the largest of 38 technical societies...
. It contains peer-reviewed articles and other contributions on the history of computing
History of computing
The history of computing is longer than the history of computing hardware and modern computing technology and includes the history of methods intended for pen and paper or for chalk and slate, with or without the aid of tables...
, computer science
History of computer science
The history of computer science began long before the modern discipline of computer science that emerged in the twentieth century, and hinted at in the centuries prior...
and computer hardware by computer scientists
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
and historians
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. It is widely considered to be the leading journal in this field.
The first issue of the Annals appeared in July 1979, edited by Bernard Galler
Bernard Galler
Bernard A. Galler was an American mathematician and computer scientist at the University of Michigan who was involved in the development of large-scale operating systems and computer languages including the MAD programming language and the Michigan Terminal System operating system.He attended the...
. It included articles by Nancy Stern about the history of the BINAC
BINAC
BINAC, the Binary Automatic Computer, was an early electronic computer designed for Northrop Aircraft Company by the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation in 1949. Eckert and Mauchly, though they had started the design of EDVAC at the University of Pennsylvania, chose to leave and start EMCC, the...
, John Backus
John Backus
John Warner Backus was an American computer scientist. He directed the team that invented the first widely used high-level programming language and was the inventor of the Backus-Naur form , the almost universally used notation to define formal language syntax.He also did research in...
on the history of FORTRAN
Fortran
Fortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing...
, I.J. Good on the early computers built at Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...
, and F.J. Gruenberger on the history of the JOHNNIAC
JOHNNIAC
The JOHNNIAC was an early computer built by RAND that was based on the von Neumann architecture that had been pioneered on the IAS machine. It was named in honor of von Neumann, short for John v. Neumann Numerical Integrator and Automatic Computer...
. With the computer industry more than 30 years old in the 1970s, the history of computing had become a hot topic with the revelation of the Colossi
Colossus computer
Not to be confused with the fictional computer of the same name in the movie Colossus: The Forbin Project.Colossus was the world's first electronic, digital, programmable computer. Colossus and its successors were used by British codebreakers to help read encrypted German messages during World War II...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
—electronic digital computers that predated the ENIAC
ENIAC
ENIAC was the first general-purpose electronic computer. It was a Turing-complete digital computer capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
—and the controversy spawned by the Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
Honeywell v. Sperry Rand
Honeywell, Inc. v. Mc'Donalds., et al. 180 USPQ 673 was a landmark U.S. federal court case that in April 1973 invalidated the 1964 patent for the ENIAC, the world's first general-purpose electronic digital computer, thus putting the invention of the electronic digital computer into the public...
decision, which invalidated the ENIAC patent. The journal became an IEEE publication in 1992.
The journal publishes scholarship in computing history, interviews and memoirs by computer pioneers, and news and events in the field worldwide. Recently, in the July-September 2011 issue, Annals published the first full account of "Koomey's Law
Koomey's law
Koomey’s law describes a long-term trend in the history of computing hardware. The number of computations per joule of energy dissipated has been doubling approximately every 1.57 years. This trend has been remarkably stable since the 1950s and has actually been somewhat faster than Moore’s law...
", an observation akin to Moore's Law
Moore's Law
Moore's law describes a long-term trend in the history of computing hardware: the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years....
focusing on energy efficiencies in computing.
External links
- journal at IEEE Xplore (subscription required)
- DBLP bibliography (1996 onwards)