In 1835, the English scientist Charles Babbage began work on the construction of a computing machine that he described as "analytical." In a letter to the President of the Royal Academy of Science in Brussels, he wrote: "I am astonished at the power of the machine I am creating." And he was only referring to its ability to perform calculations! He could not foresee other applications for his brainchild for a simple reason: although Babbage's machine was based on the same construction principles and featured an arrangement similar to the first computers that appeared half a century later, his device remained a mechanical one. It was a huge assembly of gear wheels, levers, and other components that could be set in motion only by a steam engine. Yet Babbage was ahead of his time.
The second half of our century has presented mankind with a dazzling array of remarkable achievements in the field of computing. Our global society is indebted to the millions of workers‚ scientists, engineers, and technicians who created the modern electronic computer, computer software, and huge information networks. However, the number of those who laid the foundation for computer science and technology was far more limited. They had a difficult task‚Äîto create something completely new. There scientists, engineers, and mathematicians lived and worked in many different countries. One of the consequences of the Second World War and the Cold War that followed was the loss of collaboration among them; their work was shrouded in secrecy, while the first computers they designed were mostly for the military. As a result, the creators of computer technology were known only to the specialists in their own nations.
Nowhere was this truer than in the Soviet Union. In the difficult postwar years, the efforts of the Soviet computer scientists and the teams they supervised made the USSR one of the world's leaders in computer manufacturing. It is a great pity this leadership role was relinquished during the Period of Stagnation. It was not the fault of computer science students who succeeded their renowned teachers.
The extremely rapid development of the computer during the difficult postwar years was an extraordinary feat, as were the great achievements in the fields of satellite technology, rocketry, and nuclear fission; much has been written about the latter three areas. And although the computer played an enormous role in carrying out these developments, this fact has not received great mention.
It also must be noted that the establishment and development of computer technology in the USSR advanced in the postwar years virtually without any contact with the Western scientists. The development of computers abroad was conducted secretly because at first, digital electronic computers were designated for military purposes. At the same time, the computer technology in the USSR evolved independently as well, led by top Soviet scientists.
This book reveals for the first time the comprehensive history of Soviet scientists' remarkable achievements in computing technology, including the creation of computers which served as a critical base for our national defense complex and allowed for parity between the Soviet Union and the United States - a major factor in preventing a nuclear war. Leading these efforts, S.A. Lebedev, V.M. Glushkov, I.S. Brook, M.A. Kartsev and many others, stand out as the pioneers. Beyond the scope of this book is the whole range of Soviet software developed during the Cold War and the distinguished scientists behind it, this including A.A. Lyapunov, M.R. Shura-Bura, A.P. Ershov, V.M. Kurochkin, E.L. Yuschenko, and others.
This book is dedicated to the lives and creativity of the founders of digital electronic computing and computer research in the USSR. The author was able to obtain a lot of the original material on computer history, as well as archival documents and large illustrative prints. Unfortunately, many pioneers of computer technology are no longer with us. Therefore, it was necessary to use the recollections of their students, colleagues, and close relatives, as well as the author's own memories. For this, the author expresses much gratitude to: T.A. Mavrina, N.S. Lebedeva, E.S. Osechinskaya, A.A. Dorodnitsyn, V.A. Melnikov, V.S. Burtsev, G.G. Ryabov, P.P. Golovistikov, V.I. Riszov, B.I. Rameev, M.K. Sulim, T.M. Alexandridi, N.P. Brusentsov, Y.V. Rogachov, I.Y. Akushsky, V.M. Glushkova, and M.A. Kartsev.
The main objective of this book is to illustrate the short history of the formation and initial development of the digital electronic computers in the Soviet Union through the eyes of its ingenious creators. In addition, some of the material presented here will also clarify the obvious reasons the Soviet Union lost its leading position in the computer technology arena long before the destructive force of "Perestroika." First, the government refused to cooperate with Western European firms who were interested in developing fourth-generation computers jointly with the Soviet Union. Second, the Soviet government decided to copy and "sovietize" the American IBM-360, a strategy many leading Soviet computer scientists vehemently opposed. Third, in the 1970's, the Soviet government made an irrational decision to split the computer industry into three separate sections that began developing a whole range of computers independently of each other. One tragic result was more duplication of already existing software and hardware designs, primarily American IBM and Digital, making the Soviet computer industry lag even further behind the rest of the industrialized world. Fourth, the Soviet mind-set underestimated the value of the connection between academic science and the computer industry. This profoundly hindered scientific advancement for many years to come.
For over more than half a century, computer technology has made great progress, but still has not matured. Certainly, in the twenty-first century our present-day computers will be regarded as obsolete, just as the first computers are now viewed. And although the world history of computer science and engineering will no doubt become more and more interesting and exciting, these pages remain dedicated to the establishment and original development of digital electronic computers, and the lives and creativity of their first inventors in the Soviet Union. I sincerely hope that the materials presented in this book will appeal to all readers and researchers for generations to come.
- B.N. Malinovsky