Retiring computer pioneer—

Abstract

In retrospect, it is obvious that Charles Babbage, when writing these words, had Howard Aiken in mind. In July 1961, twenty-four years after conceiving the idea that led to Mark I and after over a quarter century of service to Harvard University and to the advancement of science, Howard Aiken became Professor of Applied Mathematics, Emeritus, and embarked on his present career as a consultant with the same boundless energy and imagination that gave momentum to one of the most revolutionary and important technological advances of this century.