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Herman Goldstine, ENIAC Developer, Dies at Age 90

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the on-to-greener-pastures dept.

CodeFixer writes "Herman Goldstine, who as a mathematician working at the Ballistic Research Lab convinced the US Army to fund the development of the ENIAC and EDVAC, has died at the age of 90. His obituary can be found at the New York Times and descriptions of his involvement in the development of the ENIAC can be found at the Army Research Laboratory."

14 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. Sad News by orthogonal · · Score: 5, Funny

    Herman Goldstine, who as a mathematician working at the Ballistic Research Lab convinced the US Army to fund the development of the ENIAC and EDVAC, has died at the age of 90.

    I'm sure everyone in the Slashdot community will miss him - even if you didn't enjoy his work, there's no denying his contributions to popular culture. Truly an American icon.

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    1. Re:Sad News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      who the fuck modded this funny?

    2. Re:Sad News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      It's an inside Slashdot joke, only funny if you're a Slashdot regular.

      That is debatable.

  2. Copy of Obituary by swordboy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Goodbye World

    Hey - he was 90. We should all be so lucky. Life causes death.

    --

    Life is the leading cause of death in America.
  3. heh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    when steven king dies, nobody on slashdot will believe it

  4. Possible obituary... by jamie812 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Brainiac who made Eniac had a Cardiac.

  5. Visionary guy by Timesprout · · Score: 1, Funny

    Just reading the article though prompted me to do a quick google on IBM, I knew they were around during the war and I was thinking it is some achievement for a company in such a rapidly changing landscape to be still going strong today. Its a further shock to discover they were incorporated in 1911! Lets hear it for our geriatric IBM overlords.

    --
    Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
    What truth?
    There is no dupe
  6. Uh-oh... by beej_55 · · Score: 2, Funny

    What happens when Army computers get slashdotted? *hides in his nuclear bunker...for a week...* I'm betting most of the military computers are Win-based... And yeah, do imagine all the change this guy was so lucky to see! Forever will he remain, in the archives of Slashdot.

  7. Site Not Slashdotted :-( by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Awww, man - can't someone host a mirror on a thin pipe, so I can make the obligitory
    "looks like the site is hosted on an ENIAC"
    joke?

    No?

    *sulks*

  8. This Just In! by Progman3K · · Score: 3, Funny

    I just read some sad news on slashdot - Troll Orthogonal was found dead at his computer this morning. There weren't any more details. I'm sure everyone in the Slashdot community will miss him - even if you didn't enjoy his work, there's no denying his contributions to troll culture. Truly a slashdot icon.

    ;-)

    --
    I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
  9. Re:How long? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    2 more years, my orbiting battle statation will be ready then, and there will be big changes.

  10. Re:Idea from English? by Mignon · · Score: 4, Funny
    NCR built the American version of the bombe.

    Or, put another way, "NCR set U.S. up the bombe."

  11. Eniac's not all by wass · · Score: 2, Funny

    He also created the first random-number generator - The ENI-Meeny-Miney-Moe-iAC.

    --

    make world, not war

  12. ENIAC developer? So what did he die from? by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 2, Funny

    Open filament? Excessive gas? Cathode interface? Low Emission? Loss of vacuum?

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