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Herman Goldstine

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Herman Heine Goldstine
Born (1913-09-13) 13 September 1913 (age 113)
Chicago, Illinois, US
Died16 June 2004(2004-06-16) (aged 90)
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, US
Occupation(s)Mathematician, computer scientist
Years active1939–1997
Known forDevelopment of the IAS machine, role in creation of ENIAC, IBM Fellow

Herman Heine Goldstine (September 13, 1913 – June 16, 2004) was a distinguished mathematician and pioneer in computer science who led the development of the IAS machine at the Institute for Advanced Study and played a significant role in creating ENIAC, recognized as the first modern electronic digital computer. He was later honored as an IBM Fellow, the highest technical distinction awarded by IBM.

Early life

Goldstine was born in Chicago in 1913 into a Jewish family. He pursued his education at the University of Chicago, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in Mathematics in 1933, followed by a master's degree in 1934, and completed his PhD in 1936. During his studies, he served as a research assistant under Gilbert Ames Bliss, a specialist in external ballistics.

Early career

In 1939, Goldstine embarked on an academic career by joining the faculty at the University of Michigan. After the United States entered World War II, he enlisted in the U.S. Army.

BRL and the Moore School

Goldstine left his academic position in July 1942 to join the Army as a commissioned lieutenant. He was assigned to the Ballistic Research Laboratory (BRL) as an ordnance mathematician, where he calculated firing tables critical for precise artillery targeting over extended ranges.

These computations were carried out by approximately one hundred women operating mechanical calculators. Each trajectory calculation involved roughly 750 individual computations, with tables encompassing about 3,000 trajectories; each trajectory took no less than seven hours to complete. To improve productivity, BRL partnered with the computing resources at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, appointing Goldstine as the liaison between BRL and the university.

The ENIAC

At this time, engineer Joseph Chapline recommended that Goldstine meet John Mauchly, a physics instructor at the Moore School. Mauchly proposed that calculations could be performed thousands of times faster using an electronic computer based on vacuum tubes. In June 1943, Mauchly and Goldstine secured funding from the Army to develop this concept. The ENIAC was constructed over a period of 30 months, requiring approximately 200,000 man-hours. The machine measured 30 by 60 feet, weighed around 30 tons, and housed 18,000 vacuum tubes. It had a very limited memory capacity—capable of storing only 20 numbers—and programming it took several days. The project concluded near the end of World War II in late 1945.

The EDVAC

Although ENIAC’s operational impact during the war was minimal, the Army commissioned a follow-up machine known as the EDVAC. Goldstine collaborated with Mauchly, J. Presper Eckert, and Arthur Burks to develop this successor with improvements addressing ENIAC’s shortcomings.

Meeting John von Neumann

During the summer of 1944, Goldstine met mathematician John von Neumann in Aberdeen, Maryland. Their discussions centered on the project while von Neumann was concurrently engaged with computational needs for the Manhattan Project.

The First Draft

Subsequent to these discussions, von Neumann joined the research team and authored First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, initially intended as an internal memorandum but transcribed by Goldstine into a comprehensive 101-page document crediting von Neumann as sole author. On June 25, 1946, Goldstine distributed twenty-four copies among those involved with EDVAC; numerous additional copies circulated within academic circles across the United States and Great Britain. This document became a seminal reference for electronic digital computer design. Due to von Neumann’s prominence, the architecture outlined in EDVAC came to be known as the von Neumann architecture.

A fundamental innovation introduced was storing programs electronically within memory rather than relying on mechanical switches or patch cables. Although these concepts had been previously discussed within the EDVAC team, Eckert and Mauchly—the original creators of ENIAC—were excluded from authorship on this report. This exclusion fostered resentment and contributed to the dissolution of their collaboration after the war.

Eckert and Mauchly went on to establish the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, which endures today partially as Unisys. Meanwhile, von Neumann, Goldstine, and Burks transitioned into academic roles at the Institute for Advanced Study. In summer 1946, they reunited to deliver lectures at the inaugural computer course—the Moore School Lectures—where Goldstine presented detailed lectures on numerical methods crucial for programming digital computers.

Institute for Advanced Study

Following World War II, Goldstine collaborated with von Neumann and Burks at the Institute for Advanced Study located in Princeton, where they created the IAS machine. He initially held the position of assistant director and, after 1954, advanced to director of the project.

The design of the IAS machine significantly shaped the early computer models developed by IBM, largely due to von Neumann’s advisory role with the company. After von Neumann passed away in 1957, the IAS project was discontinued. Subsequently, Goldstine was appointed as the inaugural director of the Mathematical Sciences Department at IBM’s Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York.

IBM

During his tenure at IBM, Goldstine was instrumental in fostering stronger ties between IBM’s research teams and academic institutions. In 1969, he received the distinction of becoming an IBM Fellow, which is the highest technical accolade awarded by IBM. He also acted as a consultant to the director of research. Goldstine authored three significant works on computing history: The Computer from Pascal to von Neumann, History of Numerical Analysis from the 16th Through the 19th Century, and History of the Calculus of Variations from the Seventeenth Through the Nineteenth Century. In The Computer from Pascal to von Neumann, he highlighted von Neumann’s pivotal contributions to contemporary computing theory.

Later career

After retiring, Goldstine served as executive director of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia between 1985 and 1997, where he attracted distinguished visitors and speakers.

Personal life

In 1941, he wed Adele Katz, who was an ENIAC programmer and author of its technical documentation. They had two children: a daughter and a son. Following Adele’s death in 1964, he remarried Ellen Watson in 1966.

Death

Goldstine passed away on June 16, 2004, at his residence in Bryn Mawr, after a prolonged struggle with Parkinson's disease. The Thomas J. Watson Research Center publicly announced his passing and honored him by renaming a post-doctoral fellowship after him.

Awards and honoraria

Publications

  • Arthur W. Burks, Herman Heine Goldstine, John Von Neumann; Preliminary Discussion of the Logical Design of an Electronic Computer Instrument; Institute for Advanced Study, 1946
  • Herman H. Goldstine; chapter "The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC)" in The Origins of Digital Computers: Selected Papers; Springer-Verlag, 1982
  • Herman H. Goldstine; The Computer from Pascal to von Neumann; Princeton University Press, 1980
  • Herman H. Goldstine; New and Full Moons: 1001 B.C. to A.D. 1651; American Philosophical Society, 1973
  • Herman H. Goldstine; History of Numerical Analysis from the 16th Through the 19th Century; Springer-Verlag, 1977
  • Herman H. Goldstine; History of the Calculus of Variations from the Seventeenth Through the Nineteenth Century; Springer-Verlag, 1980
  • Jakob Bernoulli, Jean Bernoulli, Herman H. Goldstine, P. Radelet-de Grave; Die Streitschritfen Von Jacob Und Johann Bernoulli: Variationsrechnung; Birkhäuser, 1991

References


External links

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