Papers relate to Gordon D. Goldstein, a computer engineer and frequent seminar speaker and participant, especially in the fields of linguistics and machine translation.
Scope and Contents:
The Goldstein Collection documents an interesting and important period in the development of the early computer industry. Many of the items in the collection are technical in nature; others, however, provide an interesting perspective on the development of post-war American culture. Items in the collection include design and training materials, operational manuals, professional literature, advertisements and promotional items, photographs, business and office documentation, and conference and seminar materials.
The collection is divided into five series. The first three series correspond to Goldstein's employment history; the fourth series includes notes and minutes from UNIVAC and computer conferences attended by Goldstein; and the fifth series contains general computer publications and computer advertisements. Of particular interest in the last series is a copy of the 1954 Report to the Association for Computing Machinery: First Glossary of Programming Terminology. This item was edited by Grace Murray Hopper.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 5 series.
Series 1, National Bureau of Standards, Electronic Computers Section/Standards Eastern Automatic Computer, 1948-1953
Series 2, U.S. Navy/Applied Mathematics Laboratory, 1950-1957
Series 3, UNIVAC-Remington Rand Corporation/Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, 1948--956
Series 4, UNIVAC Conferences, 1950-1956
Series 5, Publications and Competitor Materials, 1950-1955
Biographical / Historical:
Born in 1917, Gordon D. Goldstein graduated from Clarkson College of Technology with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. In 1941, Goldstein took a job with the Army Signal Corp as a civilian inspector of radio and navigation equipment. After leaving the Army Signal Corp, Goldstein took a job as development engineer at the Washington Institute of Technology where he was employed until 1950. From 1950 to 1951 he worked as chief engineer with computers for the Census Bureau in Philadelphia.
In 1951, Goldstein left the Census Bureau and took a job with the Navy Department. During his tenure there, Goldstein worked in three offices or divisions: the Naval Ordnance Laboratory (electronics scientist), the David Taylor Model Basin's Applied Mathematics Laboratory, and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Information Systems Program where he was involved with applications of UNIVAC I. Goldstein worked in the Office of Naval Research from 1956 until his retirement in 1980.
Sources
Berkeley, Edmund C., ed. Who's Who in Computers and Data Processing 1971: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Computer Professionals. New York: The New York Times Book and Educational Division, 1971.
Gordon D. Goldstein Papers, 1950-1979. Charles Babbage Institute: Center for the History of Information Processing.
Williams, Michael R. A History of Computing Technology. Los Alamitos, California: IEEE Computer Society Press, 1997.
Related Materials:
Materials in Other Organizations
The Charles Babbage Institute, Center for the History of Information Processing houses the Gordon D. Goldstein Papers, 1950-1979, http://special.lib.umn.edu/findaid/xml/cbi00068.xml
Archives Center, National Museum of American History houses the Computer Oral History Collection, 1969-1973, 1977 http://invention.smithsonian.org/resources/fa_comporalhist_index.aspx
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Gordon D. Goldstein on December 13, 1978.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Development of the Electrical Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) Videohistory Collection
Extent:
2 videotapes (Reference copies). 7 digital .wmv files and .rm files (Reference copies).
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Videotapes
Transcripts
Date:
1988
Introduction:
The Smithsonian Videohistory Program, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation from 1986 until 1992, used video in historical research. Additional collections have
been added since the grant project ended. Videohistory uses the video camera as a historical research tool to record moving visual information. Video works best in historical
research when recording people at work in environments, explaining artifacts, demonstrating process, or in group discussion. The experimental program recorded projects that
reflected the Institution's concern with the conduct of contemporary science and technology.
Smithsonian historians participated in the program to document visual aspects of their on-going historical research. Projects covered topics in the physical and biological
sciences as well as in technological design and manufacture. To capture site, process, and interaction most effectively, projects were taped in offices, factories, quarries,
laboratories, observatories, and museums. Resulting footage was duplicated, transcribed, and deposited in the Smithsonian Institution Archives for scholarship, education,
and exhibition. The collection is open to qualified researchers.
Descriptive Entry:
In the Computing Gallery, Computers Before 1946, of the National Museum of American History (NMAH) on February 2, 1988, David K. Allison, Curator at NMAH, interviewed
J. Presper Eckert about significant aspects of the design, development, and operation of the ENIAC. Specifically, the session documented both technical and non-technical aspects
of the design of the ENIAC, including Eckert's engineering background, early uses of calculators to perform ballistics calculations, materials testing, and the assembly of
components. Eckert demonstrated the operation of the accumulators, plug-in units, wiring conduits, and function tables with the original artifacts displayed in the gallery.
Much of the session was recorded for inclusion in the Information Age exhibit which opened at NMAH in May 1990. The video producer, Peter Vogt, frequently interrupted
or stopped the interview to meet script and exhibit requirements. Therefore, this session has a number of rough cuts for a professional production.
Historical Note:
The ENIAC (Electrical Numerical Integrator and Computer), the largest and most powerful early computer, was designed to compute the paths of artillery shells, and to
solve computational problems in fields such as nuclear physics, aerodynamics, and weather prediction. The U.S. Army Ordnance Department funded The Moore School for Electrical
Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania to build the computer between 1943 and 1945. J. Presper Eckert and John W. Mauchly were the principal designers. The ENIAC computed
a thousand times faster than any existing device.
J. Presper Eckert (1919-1995) attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering, in 1941 and 1943 respectively. He received
an honorary D.Sc. from the same university in 1964. He became chief engineer at The Moore School of the University of Pennsylvania for the ENIAC in 1944 through 1946. In 1946
he became vice president for the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation. He was appointed vice president for the Remington Rand Division of the Sperry Rand Corporation, 1955-1962,
and remained in that position when the company became UNIVAC and later UNISYS.
In the Computing Gallery of NMAH documented J. Presper Eckert's involvement with the design of the ENIAC, c. 1940-1988, including: Eckert's engineering background; early uses of calculators to perform ballistic calculations; materials testing; design a...
Container:
Interviews
Type:
Archival materials
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9537, Development of the Electrical Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC) Videohistory Collection
