Milestone-Proposal:2020-03
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Docket #:2020-16
This proposal has been submitted for review.
To the proposer’s knowledge, is this achievement subject to litigation? No
Is the achievement you are proposing more than 25 years old? Yes
Is the achievement you are proposing within IEEE’s designated fields as defined by IEEE Bylaw I-104.11, namely: Engineering, Computer Sciences and Information Technology, Physical Sciences, Biological and Medical Sciences, Mathematics, Technical Communications, Education, Management, and Law and Policy. Yes
Did the achievement provide a meaningful benefit for humanity? Yes
Was it of at least regional importance? Yes
Has an IEEE Organizational Unit agreed to pay for the milestone plaque(s)? Yes
Has the IEEE Section(s) in which the plaque(s) will be located agreed to arrange the dedication ceremony? Yes
Has the IEEE Section in which the milestone is located agreed to take responsibility for the plaque after it is dedicated? Yes
Has the owner of the site agreed to have it designated as an IEEE Milestone? Yes
Year or range of years in which the achievement occurred:
1949 -1959
Title of the proposed milestone:
The Compiler 1952
Plaque citation summarizing the achievement and its significance; if personal name(s) are included, such name(s) must follow the achievement itself in the citation wording: Text absolutely limited by plaque dimensions to 70 words; 60 is preferable for aesthetic reasons.
IEEE MILESTONE IN COMPUTER ENGINEERING & COMPUTER SCIENCE Citation The Milestone for the invention of the Compiler
The compiler translated human-readable English keywords or commands into machine-readable instructions or code, thus creating well-defined communication between human programmers and computers. It made possible programs written for different computers rather than a single machine. Based on the compiler, the Flow-Matic was first used in the UNIVAC. This shaped the creation of COBOL, a programming language that facilitated the information highway and the beginning of the IT industry.
200-250 word abstract describing the significance of the technical achievement being proposed, the person(s) involved, historical context, humanitarian and social impact, as well as any possible controversies the advocate might need to review.
IEEE technical societies and technical councils within whose fields of interest the Milestone proposal resides.
In what IEEE section(s) does it reside?
IEEE Philadelphia Section
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) which have agreed to sponsor the Milestone:
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) paying for milestone plaque(s):
Unit: IEEE Philadelphia Section
Senior Officer Name: Chair Chris
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) arranging the dedication ceremony:
Unit: IEEE Philadelphia Milestone Committee
Senior Officer Name: Kathleen McDevitt, Chair
Unit: IEEE Philadelphia Women in Engineering Affinity Group
Senior Officer Name: Bo Beth Sun
IEEE section(s) monitoring the plaque(s):
IEEE Section: IEEE Philadelphia Section
IEEE Section Chair name: Chris Dietsch, Chair
Milestone proposer(s):
Proposer name: Kathleen M. McDevitt
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Please note: your email address and contact information will be masked on the website for privacy reasons. Only IEEE History Center Staff will be able to view the email address.
Street address(es) and GPS coordinates in decimal form of the intended milestone plaque site(s):
GPS to be added 200 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, GPS Latitude: 39.95239 - Longitude: -75.190489
Describe briefly the intended site(s) of the milestone plaque(s). The intended site(s) must have a direct connection with the achievement (e.g. where developed, invented, tested, demonstrated, installed, or operated, etc.). A museum where a device or example of the technology is displayed, or the university where the inventor studied, are not, in themselves, sufficient connection for a milestone plaque.
Please give the address(es) of the plaque site(s) (GPS coordinates if you have them). Also please give the details of the mounting, i.e. on the outside of the building, in the ground floor entrance hall, on a plinth on the grounds, etc. If visitors to the plaque site will need to go through security, or make an appointment, please give the contact information visitors will need. After the invention of the ENIAC at University of Penn, Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation (EMCC) was formed in 1946. By 1949, EMCC was brought out by Remington Rand and John Mauchly hired Grace M. Hopper. The compiler was invented in 1952 at 3747 Ridge Avenue, East Falls, Philadelphia, PA. Shortly afterwards, the company moved to 1900 Allegany Avenue. In 1955, Remington Rand merged with Sperry Rand. In 1957, The Sperry Rand Company used the Compiler (The Flow-Matic) in UNIVAC, the first open market computer. Many of the same people who worked on the ENIAC were hired from the Moore Engineering School of the University of Pennsylvania. They worked on the UNIVAC using the first Compiler, invented by Grace M. Hopper. It is important to note that COBOL, the later result of the compiler, became well known computer language and used till this day. It was promoted by many lecturers at University of Pennsylvania, universities across the country and internationally by Grace M. Hopper. She educated her pupils on the early history of computers, the compiler, and their importance to society. Eventually, Sperry Rand merged with the business machine company, Burroughs. Today the company is UNISYS. University of Pennsylvania, Moore Engineering school is where the compiler Milestone will be placed. It is located at 200 South 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, GPS Latitude: 39.95239 - Longitude: -75.190489. It is in a very busy area with much walking traffic. It is safe, with visibility, and security. UNISYS is the caretaker for this history of early computing at this University’s Moore Engineering School. The two buildings still exist in areas that are not safe. They are not an option for a Milestone to be placed there. East Falls area in Philadelphia is going through extensive renovation which gives hope to someday honoring these locations.
Are the original buildings extant?
No
Details of the plaque mounting:
The mounting will be on the inside of the lobby.
How is the site protected/secured, and in what ways is it accessible to the public?
It is a secure location by security cameras and campus security guards. It is open seven days a week.
Who is the present owner of the site(s)?
University of Pennsylvania
What is the historical significance of the work (its technological, scientific, or social importance)? If personal names are included in citation, include detailed support at the end of this section preceded by "Justification for Inclusion of Name(s)". (see section 6 of Milestone Guidelines)
The historical significance of the compiler is the importance of how it affected the modern computer: A compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language into another language. The name compiler is primarily used for programs that translate source code from a high-level programming language to a lower-level language to create an executable program. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_compiler_construction
What obstacles (technical, political, geographic) needed to be overcome?
Grace M. Hopper's biggest obstacle in promoting the compiler was convincing her superiors and co-workers that the compiler would work technically to improve the programing from 010101 to the English language or any language. The politics of convincing an all-male audience took two years for acceptance.
What features set this work apart from similar achievements?
The feature that set this work apart from similar achievements is it was the missing link in programing. Grace M. Hopper created an executable program that translated source code into any language such as English.
Why was the achievement successful and impactful?
Supporting texts and citations to establish the dates, location, and importance of the achievement: Minimum of five (5), but as many as needed to support the milestone, such as patents, contemporary newspaper articles, journal articles, or chapters in scholarly books. 'Scholarly' is defined as peer-reviewed, with references, and published. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. At least one of the references must be from a scholarly book or journal article. All supporting materials must be in English, or accompanied by an English translation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_compiler_construction
https://news.yale.edu/2017/02/10/grace-murray-hopper-1906-1992-legacy-innovation-and-service
https://www.computer.org/profiles/grace-hopper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Grace-Hopper
https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/it/2015/01/mit2015010062/13rRUxCitFF
http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017/d/pacscl/UPENN_RBML_PUSpMsColl925
See references in specific responses
Supporting materials (supported formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, PDF, DOC): All supporting materials must be in English, or if not in English, accompanied by an English translation. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. For documents that are copyright-encumbered, or which you do not have rights to post, email the documents themselves to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please see the Milestone Program Guidelines for more information.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_compiler_construction https://news.yale.edu/2017/02/10/grace-murray-hopper-1906-1992-legacy-innovation-and-service https://www.computer.org/profiles/grace-hopper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper https://www.britannica.com/biography/Grace-Hopper https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/it/2015/01/mit2015010062/13rRUxCitFF http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017/d/pacscl/UPENN_RBML_PUSpMsColl925
Please email a jpeg or PDF a letter in English, or with English translation, from the site owner(s) giving permission to place IEEE milestone plaque on the property, and a letter (or forwarded email) from the appropriate Section Chair supporting the Milestone application to ieee-history@ieee.org with the subject line "Attention: Milestone Administrator." Note that there are multiple texts of the letter depending on whether an IEEE organizational unit other than the section will be paying for the plaque(s).
Please recommend reviewers by emailing their names and email addresses to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please include the docket number and brief title of your proposal in the subject line of all emails.
