Clifford Edward Berry (April 19, 1918 – October 30, 1963) helped
John Vincent Atanasoff
John Vincent Atanasoff, , (October 4, 1903 – June 15, 1995) was an American physicist and inventor from mixed Bulgarian-Irish origin, best known for being credited with inventing the first electronic digital computer.
Atanasoff invented the ...
create the first digital electronic
computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
in 1939, the
Atanasoff–Berry computer (ABC).
Biography
Clifford Berry was born April 19, 1918, in
Gladbrook, Iowa, to Fred and Grace Berry.
His father owned an appliance repair shop, where he was able to learn about radios.
He graduated from Marengo High School in
Marengo, Iowa, in 1934 as the class valedictorian at age 16.
He went on to study at
Iowa State College
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...
(now known as Iowa State University), eventually earning a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1939 and followed by his master's degree in physics in 1941.
In 1942, he married an ISU classmate and Atanasoff's secretary, Martha Jean Reed.
By 1948, he earned his PhD in physics from Iowa State University.
He died in 1963, attributed to "possible suicide".
References
External links
1942 and 1962 photos of Berry, Ames Laboratory Archive, Iowa StateAtanasoff-Berry Computer Archive, Computer Science Dept., Iowa StateJune 7, 1972 interview with Atanasoff on Berry, Smithsonian National Museum of American History
( ttps://www.webcitation.org/5kwDlnDnc?url=http://encarta.msn.com/sidebar_761599223/Dr_Atanasoff%5C%27s_Computer.html Archived2009-10-31)
"ABC - Atanasoff-Berry Computer", I Programmer
American computer scientists
20th-century American physicists
Iowa State University alumni
1918 births
1963 deaths
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