CHARLES BABBAGEBirth Date: December 26, 1791
Death Date: October 18, 1871 Grew Up: London, England Contribution: - Originated the concept of a programmable computer. - Considered the "father of computing". - Invented the first mechanical computer that eventually led to more complex designs. |
JOHN VON NEUMANBirth Date: December 28, 1903
Death Date: February 8, 1957 Grew Up: Budapest, Austro-Hungarian Empire Contribution: - Had application of operator to quantum mechanics. - Developed functional analysis key figure for game theory, and concepts of cellular automata, the universal constructor and the digital computer. |
GRACE MURRAY HOPPERBirth Date: December 9, 1906
Death Date: January 1, 1992 Grew Up: New York City, New York, US Contribution: - First programmers of the Harvard I computer. - Developed the first complier for a computer programming language. - She conceptualized the idea of machine-independent programming languages. |
WILLIAM SHOCKLEYBirth Date: February 13, 1910
Death Date: August 12, 1989 Grew Up: Palo Alto, California Contribution: - Invented a new transistor design which led to California's "Silicon Valley", which became a hotbed of electronics innovation. - Was a staunch advocate of eugenics. |
ALAN TURINGBirth Date: June 23, 1912
Death Date: June 7, 1954 Grew Up: London, England Contribution: - Highly influential in the development of computer science, with his Turing Machine which was a model of a general purpose computer. - Father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence. - He also devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers and codes in World War II |
CLAUDE SHANNONBirth Date: April 30, 1916
Death Date: February 24, 2001 Grew Up: Petoskey, Michigan, US Contribution: - Founded both the digital computer and digital circuit design theory. - Wrote thesis demonstrating electrical applications on Boolean algebra. - Made important contribution to the field of cryptanalysis for national defense during the World War II. |
DOUGLAS ENGELBARTBirth Date: January 30, 1925
Death Date: July 2, 2013 Grew Up: Portland, Oregon, US Contribution: - He is best known for his work on the challenges of human-computer interaction. - Resulting with the invention of the computer mouse, and the development of hypertext, networked computers and precursors to graphical user interfaces. |
ROBERT NOYCEBirth Date: December 12, 1927
Death Date: June 3, 1990 Grew Up: Grinnell, Iowa, US Contribution: - Mainly credited for with the invention of the integrated circuit or microchip. - This fueled the personal computer revolution and gave Silicon Valley its name. |
VINT CERFBirth Date: June 23, 1943
Death Date: N/A Grew Up: Los Angeles, US Contribution: - Recognized as "father of the internet". - Developed the first commercial email system (MCI Mail) connected to the internet. - Instrumental in the creation of the internet. |
STEVE WOZNIAKBirth Date: August 11, 1950
Death Date: N/A Grew Up: Sunnyvale, California, US Contribution: - Co-founded the Apple Computer with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne. - Single-handedly invented both the Apple I and Apple II computers. - These computers contributed significantly to the microcomputer revolution. |