Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

San Pablo City Campus
Brgy. Del Remedio, San Pablo City
Province of Laguna

College of Business Management and Accountancy

COURSE CODE : GEC 104

COURSE TITLE : Mathematics In The Modern World

COURSE TOPIC : Howard H. Aiken

INSTRUCTOR : Mr. Santos

REPORTER : Kingking, Jamaica S.

COURSE & SEC. : 1BSOA-2

 HOWARD H. AIKEN
(Howard Hathaway Aiken)
(March 8, 1900 - March 14, 1973)
American Scientist, Physicist, Inventor, Engineer and Mathematician

Howard H. Aiken was an American Physicist and a Pioneer in computing, being the
original conceptual designer behind IBM’s Harvard Mark I computer.

Born on March 8, 1900 in Hoboken , New Jersey. Died on March 14, 1973 at the
age of 73, at St. Louis, Missouri. Alma Mater in University of Winconsin Madison
Harvard University (Doctorate). He design and also known the creator of Automatic
Sequence Controlled Calculators Harvard Mark I - IV.

Aiken studied at the University of Winconsin-Madison and later obtained his Ph.D. in
physics at Harvard University in 1939. During this time, he encountered differential
equations that he could only solve numerically. Inspired by Charles Babbage’s Different
Engine . He envisioned an electro-mechanical computing device that could do much of
the tedious work for him. This computer was originally called the ASCC (Automatic
Sequence Controlled Calculator) and later renamed Harvard Mark I.

With engineering, construction, and finding from IBM, the machine was completed
and installed at Harvard in February, 1944. Richard Milton Bloch, Robert Campbell and
Grace Hopper joined the project later as programmers. In 1947, Aiken completed his
work on the Harvard Mark II computer. He continued his work on the Mark III and the
Harvard Mark IV. The Mark III used some electronic components and the Mark IV was
all-electronic. The Mark III and Mark IV used magnetic drum memory and the Mark IV
also had magnetic core memory.

In addition to his work on the Mark series, another important contribution of Aiken’s
was the introduction of a master’s program for computer science at Harvard in 1947.
Nearly a decade before the programs began to appear in other universities. This
became a starting ground to future computer scientists, many of whom did doctoral
dissertations under Aiken.