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Article: George R. Stibitz, at 90; known as father of the digital computer
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- February 2, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1995 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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In 1937, George R. Stibitz combined some dry cell batteries with
metal strips from a tobacco can, flashlight bulbs and two telephone
relays to create what he called a binary adder, one of the first
steps in the electronic information processing revolution.
Mr. Stibitz, who coined the term "digital" and was widely
regarded as the father of the modern digital computer, died Tuesday
in his home in Hanover, N.H, at the age of 90.
When he fashioned the binary adder he was a research mathematician
with American Telephone & Telegraph's Bell Laboratories. His
interest in computer technology grew from a request to design a more
efficient telephone relay circuit. Relay circuits operate in a
simple ...