"The Man Who Invented the Computer: The Biography of John Atanasoff, Digital Pioneer" by Jane Smiley, Doubleday, 204 pages, $25.95 What did you do on your computer today? Maybe you answered some ...

A good way to start a virtual fistfight among technology historians is to ask them to name the first digital electronic computer. Many would undoubtedly mention the University of Pennsylvania’s ENIAC, ...

Ask most people who invented the light bulb, the airplane, or telephone and you will get an immediate answer: Edison, the Wright brothers, Bell. Ask them who invented the computer and you will get a ...

AMES, Iowa (AP) -- On a cold winter night, John Vincent Atanasoff was so frustrated by his inability to concentrate that he got in his car in Ames and drove east. By the time the Iowa State University ...