Howard H. Aiken

Howard Hathaway Aiken (March 8, 1900 – March 14, 1973) was a pioneer in computing, being the primary engineer behind IBM's Harvard Mark I computer.

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 * The desire to economize time and mental effort in arithmetical computations, and to eliminate human liability to error is probably as old as the science of arithmetic itself.
 * "Proposed Automatic Calculating Machine" (1937)


 * Originally one thought that if there were a half dozen large computers in this country, hidden away in research laboratories, this would take care of all requirements we had throughout the country.
 * 1952. Quoted in I. Bernard Cohen: Howard Aiken: Portrait of a Computer Pioneer. 1999. MIT Press. p. 292. And I. Bernard Cohen: IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 20.3 pp. 27–33. (1998)


 * Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats.
 * As quoted in Portraits in Silicon (1987) by Robert Slater
 * Variant: Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats.
 * As quoted in A Computer Science Reader : Selections from Abacus (1988) by Eric A. Weiss, p. 404