IBM SSEC
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The IBM Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator was an electromechanical computer built by IBM. Its design was started in late 1944 and it operated from January 1948 to August 1952. It had many of th
SSEC control desk
IBM SSEC block diagram
John Backus
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John Warner Backus was an American computer scientist. He led the team that invented and implemented FORTRAN, the first widely used high-level programming language, and was the inventor of the Backus–
IBM SSEC
…1950. Herb Grosch, the second person with a Ph.D. hired by IBM, was one of its first programmers. Other early programmers included Edgar "Ted" Codd and John Backus. Elizabeth "Betsy" Stewart was chief operator, and often appeared in publicity photos. The SSEC was an unusual hybrid of vacuum tubes and electromechanical…
Backus in 1989