Makin' Numbers : Howard Aiken and the Computer

This collection of technical essays and reminiscences is a companion to I.

Bernard Cohen's biography "Howard Aiken: Portrait of a Computer Pioneer".

After an overview by Cohen, Part I presents the complete publication of Aiken's 1937 proposal for an automatic calculating machine, later realized as the Mark I, as well as recollections by the chief engineer in charge of construction of Mark II, Robert Campbell, and the programmer of Mark I, Richard Bloch.

Henry Tropp describes Aiken's hostility to the exclusive use of binary numbers in computational systems and his alternative approach.Part II contains essays by former students.

Part III contains recollections by people who worked or studied with Aiken.

Part IV gathers the most significant of Aiken's own writings.