John Vincent Atanasoff

John Vincent Atanasoff (in bulgarian: Джон Винсент Атанасов, romanized: Džon Vinsent Atanasov, October 4, 1903 – June 15, 1995) was an American physicist and inventor credited with inventing the first electronic digital computer. Atanasoff invented the first electronic digital computer in the 1930s at Iowa State College (now known as Iowa State University). Challenges to his claim were resolved in 1973 when the Honeywell v. Sperry Rand lawsuit ruled that Atanasoff was the inventor of the computer. His special-purpose machine has come to be called the Atanasoff–Berry Computer.

Early life and education

Atanasoff was born on October 4, 1903, in Hamilton, New York to an electrical engineer and a school teacher.

Atanasoff was raised in Brewster, Florida. Young Atanasoff's ambitions and intellectual pursuits were in part influenced by his parents, whose interests in the natural and applied sciences cultivated in him a sense of critical curiosity and confidence. At the age of nine, he learned to use a slide rule, followed shortly by the study of logarithms, and subsequently completed high school at Mulberry High School in two years. In 1925, Atanasoff received his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Florida.

In June 1941 Mauchly visited Atanasoff in Ames, Iowa for four days, staying as his houseguest. Atanasoff and Mauchly discussed the prototype ABC, examined it, and reviewed Atanasoff's design manuscript. He is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Mount Airy, Maryland.

Heritage

Atanasoff visited Bulgaria twice, in 1975 and 1985. He visited Boyadzhik village, where his grandfather had been shot by the Ottoman Turks, and was warmly welcomed by the locals and his father's relatives. He was made an honorable citizen of the town of Yambol, and received the "Key of the Town". He was also given various titles by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The John Atanasov prize is awarded every year in Bulgaria. The 3546 Atanasoff asteroid found at the Bulgarian astronomic observatory of Rozhen, was named after him.

Honors and distinctions

Atanasoff's first national award for scientific achievements was the Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius, First Class, Bulgaria's highest scientific honor bestowed to him in 1970, before the 1973 court ruling.

In 1990, President George H. W. Bush awarded Atanasoff the United States National Medal of Technology, the highest U.S. honor conferred for achievements related to technological progress.

Other distinctions awarded to Atanasoff include:

Cosmos Club membership (1957) Computer Pioneer Medal from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (1981) Foreign Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (1985) Honorary citizen of the city of Yambol, Bulgaria (1985; Atanasoff's father was born in Yambol region)

Named after Atanasoff Atanasoff Hall, the home to Iowa State University's Computer Science department Atanasoff Nunatak (a peak) on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica The asteroid (3546) Atanasoff, discovered by the Rozhen Observatory The John Atanasoff Award, established by Georgi Parvanov in 2003 and bestowed annually by the President of Bulgaria to a young Bulgarian for achievements in the field of computer and information technologies and the information society of Bulgaria The John Atanasoff Technical College in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv, a branch of the Technical University of Sofia The John Atanasoff Bulgarian national tournament in informatics and information technologies, held in the city of Shumen annually since 2001 The John Atanasoff Professional High School of Electronics in the city of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria The John Atanasoff Professional High School of Electronics in Sofia The John Atanasoff Chitalishte (community cultural centre), Sofia The John Atanasoff Chitalishte, Boyadzhik Village, Bulgaria (the birthplace of Atanasoff's father) Prof. John Atanasoff 4th Primary School, Sofia The John Atanasoff Private High School, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria The John Atanasoff Professional Technical High School, Kyustendil, Bulgaria The John Atanasoff Bulgarian Language School, Chicago, Illinois, The John Atanasoff Professional High School of Economic Informatics, Targovishte, Bulgaria The John Atanasoff University Student Computer Club, Plovdiv University, Bulgaria John Atanasoff Street, Yambol, Bulgaria John Atanasoff Street, Sofia

Selected bibliography

(Bulgarian version of his 1984 paper).