Samuel H. Caldwell
Samuel Hawks Caldwell(January 15, 1904 – October 12, 1960) was an Americanelectrical engineer,known for his contributions to the early computers.[1]
Early life and education[edit]
Caldwell enrolled atMITin 1921, where he completed his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees inelectrical engineering.[2]HisM.Sc.thesis was entitledElectrical characteristics and theory of operation of a dry electrolytic rectifier(1926). In his doctoral studies he worked onanalog computerswithVannevar Bush,developing theDifferential Analyzer.HisSc.D.,advised by Bush, was entitledThe Extension and Application of Differential Analyzer Technique in the Solution of Ordinary Differential Equations(1933).[3]
In 1934, he joined the faculty of theelectrical engineeringdepartment as anassistant professor.[2]
World War II and Later Work[edit]
DuringWorld War II,Caldwell was a chief within thefire controlsection of theNational Defense Research Committee.[4]For his work during WWII, he earned aMedal for Merit,the Naval Ordnance Development Award, and theKing's Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedomfrom Great Britain.[2]At the time, the Medal for Merit was the highest civilian honor granted by the United States.
After the war, he led theMIT Center of Analysis,where he reluctantly gave way todigital computingby initiating theRockefeller Electronic Computer(RED) and supporting theProject Whirlwind.[5]The centre closed around 1950, after which Caldwell continued as a faculty member, being the advisor to bothDavid A. Huffman(1953) andEdward J. McCluskey(1956).
In 1959, Caldwell published a paper describing his work on the "Sinotype," which was one of the first efforts at typesetting and compositing the Chinese language with a computer.[6]This program, which converted keystrokes into characters, has been described as the first instance ofautocomplete.[7]
Publications[edit]
- William H. TimbieandHenry Harold Higbieand Caldwell,Essentials of alternating currents,Wiley,1939
- Electrical Engineering Research at M.I.T.: an appreciationMIT, 1948
- Analog and special purpose computing machines1949
- Caldwell, Samuel Hawks(1958-12-01) [February 1958]. Written at Watertown, Massachusetts, USA.Switching Circuits and Logical Design(1st ed.). New York, USA:John Wiley & Sons Inc.ISBN0-47112969-0.LCCN58-7896.(xviii+686 pages)
References[edit]
- ^biographyfrom smartcomputing.com
- ^abcStratton, J. A."MIT Official Announcement of Death"(PDF).MIT Institute Archives & Special Collections.Retrieved11 April2023.
- ^Samuel Hawks Caldwellat theMathematics Genealogy Project
- ^"Collection: United States, National Defense Research Committee, Division 7, Section 7.2 records | MIT ArchivesSpace".archivesspace.mit.edu.Retrieved11 April2023.
- ^William Aspray,Was early entry a competitive advantage?inIEEE Annals of the history of computing,2000
- ^Caldwell, Samuel H. (1 June 1959). "The sinotype—a machine for the composition of Chinese from a keyboard".Journal of the Franklin Institute.267(6): 471–502.doi:10.1016/0016-0032(59)90069-9.
- ^"Samuel H, Caldwell Develops the Sinotype, a System for Phototypesetting & Computer Processing the Chinese Language: History of Information".www.historyofinformation.com.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
