Key ENIAC Events on February 14
Since the publication of the February at Penn
calendar (Almanac January 30), a number of additions
and changes have been made in the schedule of events
commemorating the birth of ENIAC fifty years ago February 14.
Below is a revised schedule of events on campus and off,
open to the University community and friends, and, as
befits the birthday of computing, some useful Web sites to browse.
At right: John W. Mauchly, whose papers are in the Department
of Special Collections at the Library.
On Campus
- John W. Mauchly and the Development of the ENIAC Computer,
a new exhibition provides an overview and assessment of the life and
careerof John Mauchly--from his childhood and early education through
his work on ENIAC and beyond, at the Rosenwald Gallery,Van Pelt-Dietrich
Library, open 9 a.m.-4:45 p.m. There will be a brief program at 10 a.m.
February 14 on the sixth floor, led by Nancy Shawcross, manuscript
curator for special collections. The exhibit will remain at the Library
until March 25 and may also be viewed online at
http://www.library.upenn.edu/special/gallery/mauchly/mauchly/jwmintro.html
- Educational Technology Showcase; student- and faculty-led
interactive demonstrations of new educational technologies being
developed at Penn, 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.-4 p.m., Bodek
Lounge, Houston Hall, open to the public.
- ENIAC 50th Speech by Vice President of the United States Albert
Gore, Jr., on ENIAC's legacy and the future impact of technology on
society, 11:50 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Irvine Auditorium. For those who did not
get tickets through the Connaissance raffle announced in The Daily
Pennsylvanian, there will be a remote video feed to the Alumni Hall, in
the Maloney Building; Rooms 109 and 110, in the Annenberg School.
- ENIAC Reenactment and Press Conference; Vice President Gore,
University President Judith Rodin, Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell, and
UNISYS Chairman and CEO James Unruh will commemorate ENIAC's 50th
anniversary by restarting one of ENIAC's original decade counters 50
years after it was first introduced to the public. Vice President Gore
will throw the switch between 1 and 1:30 p.m. There will be remote video
feed to Irvine Auditorium; Alumni Hall in the Maloney Building, HUP;
Rooms 109 and 110, in the Annenberg School and other campus locations
that receive Channel 24 of the Penn Video Network.
Off Campus
- ACM History Retrospective Sessions; 1-4:30 p.m., Philadelphia
Marriott Hotel, shuttle bus service from Irvine to the Marriott will
leave at 1:30 p.m. and 1:45 p.m.
-
- The first session, ENIAC in Context, historians Paul Ceruzzi
and Michael Williams, along with Mitchell Marcus, chair of CIS
department at Penn, will discuss the social, cultural and intellectual
environment surrounding the development of ENIAC and the importance of
ENIAC on the development of computing.
- The second session, ENIAC's Legacies, computer historian
Michael Mahoney will present an historical interpretation of the
development of computer technology over the last 50 years.
- ENIAC 50th Celebration Dinner, 6:30-10 p.m., Philadelphia
Marriott Hotel. Advance reservations necessary, 898-8724.
On the World Wide Web
- For the latest updates consult the ENIAC 50th Celebration web site:
http://homepage.seas.upenn.edu/~museum/
On the Penn Video Network
The ResNet Movie Channel (channel 11 on the Penn Video Network) is
presenting a series of seven films featuring Hollywood representations
of computers and computing. These movies will air each night of the
ENIAC anniversary week, February 11-17 beginning at 10 p.m. In honor of
the 50th anniversary of ENIAC the following films will be shown in the
series
Binary Analogues:
Computers on the Silver Screen.
-
- February 11: Desk Set (1957)
- February 12: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
- February 13: Tron (1982)
- February 14: War Games (1983)
- February 15: Electric Dreams (1984)
- February 16: The Lawnmower Man (1992)
- February 17: The Net (1995)
Almanac
February 13, 1996
Volume 42 Number 20
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