Title: Oral history interview with Martin Schwarzschild
Call Number: OH 124
Interviewee: Schwarzschild, Martin
Interviewer: William Aspray
Repository: Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
Description: Transcript, 26 pp.
Abstract: Schwarzschild describes his early training in automatic computing when he assumed the position of director of the Watson Scientific Computation Laboratory at Columbia University upon the resignation of Wallace Eckert. Schwarzschild describes the computational research he did there on stellar models using advanced IBM tabulating equipment. He next turns to his experience during world war II at Aberdeen Proving Grounds as an enlisted member of the army working on bomb blasts, and mentions work of R. H. Kent, L. Dederick, IBM personnel, John von Neumann, and other scientific consultants on the design of new automatic calculating equipment for the laboratories. Schwarzschild answers questions about the relationship between Kent and von Neumann. His final topic is the work during the 1950s he undertook on stellar interiors using the Institute for Advanced Study computer. He describes his experiences trying to use the computer for large scientific purposes, and recalls the reception of his computational research by the professional astronomy journals.
Subject(s):
Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory ; Von Neumann, John, 1903-1957 ; Statistical astronomy -- Research ; Schwarzchild, Martin ; Kent, R. H., (Robert H.) ; Institute for Advanced Study computer ; Dederick, L. ; Computers -- United States -- History ; Aberdeen Proving Ground (Md.)
Citation: Martin Schwarzschild, OH 124. Oral history interview by William Aspray, 18 November 1986, Princeton, New Jersey. Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Copyright: Copyright to this oral history is held by the Charles Babbage Institute. Distribution in any format of the transcript in its entirety is prohibited. Permission to quote from the transcript under the fair use provision of the copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code) is granted provided that this source is cited.
Transcript: Link to transcript
