Gertrude Blanch of the Mathematical Tables Project

Author

Grier, David Alan

Author_Institution

George Washington Univ., Washington, DC, USA

Volume

19

Issue

4

fYear

1997

Firstpage

18

Lastpage

27

Abstract

Gertrude Blanch can be viewed as either the last and most important leader of human computers or one of the first numerical analysts for electronic computers. From 1938 to 1948, she was the technical director of the Mathematical Tables Project, the largest and most sophisticated of the human computing groups. During that period, she organized the literature of computing and numerical analysis. After the Mathematical Tables Project became the Computation Laboratory of the National Bureau of Standards, Blanch went on to develop numerical analysis for the early computers, working first for the Institute for Numerical Analysis, next for the Computer Division of Consolidated Engineering (later ElectroData), and finally for the Air Force´s Aeronautical Research Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio.

Keywords

biographies; calculation; history; mathematics; numerical analysis; Consolidated Engineering Computer Division; ElectroData; Gertrude Blanch; Institute for Numerical Analysis; Mathematical Tables Project; National Bureau of Standards Computation Laboratory; US Air Force Aeronautical Research Laboratory; biography; electronic computers; human computers; numerical analysis; technical director; Decision support systems; Humans; Laboratories; NIST; Numerical analysis; Virtual reality;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1058-6180

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/85.627896

Filename

627896