Editing Harvard Mark I (section)

==Origins==
The origins of the Harvard Mark I can be traced back to 1935, when [[Howard H. Aiken|Howard Aiken]] conceived of building a powerful, large-scale calculating machine while pursuing graduate studies in physics at [[Harvard University]]. Aiken presented his proposal for an automatic calculating machine to IBM in November 1937.{{sfnp|Cohen|2000|p=53}}<ref name="Harvard1DEV">{{cite web|url=https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=624|title=Key Aspects of the Development of the Harvard Mark 1 and its Software|author=[[Howard H. Aiken|Howard Aiken]] and [[Grace Hopper]]|work=History of Information|access-date=April 7, 2025}}</ref> The concept was intended to solve advanced mathematical problems.<ref name="HarvardMarkDEV">{{cite video|url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vqnh2Gi13TY|date=June 2, 2024|title=Harvard Secret Computer Lab|author=Computer History Archives Project|work=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> After a feasibility study by IBM engineers, the company chairman [[Thomas J. Watson|Thomas Watson Sr.]] personally approved the project and its funding in February 1939.

Howard Aiken had started to look for a company to design and build his calculator in early 1937. After two rejections,<ref>{{harvp|Cohen|2000|p=39}}: It was first rejected by the [[Monroe Calculator Company]] and then by Harvard University.</ref> he was shown a demonstration set that [[Charles Babbage]]’s son had given to Harvard University 70 years earlier.  This led him to study Babbage and to add references to the [[Analytical Engine]] to his proposal; the resulting machine "brought Babbage’s principles of the Analytical Engine almost to full realization, while adding important new features."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/markI/markI_intro2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050308062419/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/markI/markI_intro2.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 8, 2005 |title=IBM's ASCC introduction 2|date= January 23, 2003 |access-date=14 December 2013}}</ref>

In 1941, Aiken had to put the project on hiatus, as he was called into active naval service in [[World War II]].<ref name="HarvardMarkDEV"/> The ASCC was developed and built by IBM at their [[Endicott, New York|Endicott]] plant in early 1943, and it was shipped to [[Harvard]] in February 1944.<ref name="Harvard1DEV"/> It began computations for the US Navy Bureau of Ships in May and was officially presented to the university on August 7, 1944.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Proposed automatic calculating machine (Abstract)|journal=IEEE Spectrum|date=August 1964|volume=1|issue=8|pages=62–69|doi=10.1109/MSPEC.1964.6500770|publisher=IEEE Xplore|s2cid=51652725 |issn=0018-9235}}</ref>

Although not the [[Z3 (computer)|first working computer]], the machine was the first to automate the execution of complex calculations, making it a significant step forward for computing.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://history-computer.com/the-history-of-harvard-mark-1/ | title=The History of Harvard Mark 1: A Complete Guide | date=September 21, 2021 }}</ref>