[SIGCIS-Members] petroleum and computers

[Paul McJones]

Consistent with David's Esso correspondent is this sentence by Garret 
Birkhoff in his article "Computer Developments 1935-1955, as Seen from 
Cambridge, U.S.A." (/A History of Computing in the Twentieth Century/, 
edited by Metropolis et al., Academic Press, 1980, p. 29):

"I just want to make it clear that, by 1955, with the first commercial 
machines out, American industries, especially the nuclear industry but 
also the petroleum industry---which had been egged on by von Neumann: 
incidentally, he was an early consultant for the Standard Oil 
Development Company--- were using computers and American industry has 
relied on them ever since."


On 9/14/2010 5:18 AM, David Alan Grier wrote:
>  I received emails from an  Esso engineer, who noted that they took 
> delivery of the first Univac 1103 in '56 and had von Neumann as a 
> consultant.

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