IP: Pioneers of the 'Fortran' Programming Language

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Pioneers of the 'Fortran' Programming Language
By STEVE LOHR

THEY were young, in their 20's and early 30's, brimming with energy and 
optimism, a tightknit team. Their goal was to simplify programming and open 
up computing to more people. The industry consensus was that they were 
trying the impossible. They suffered setbacks and disappointments. A six- 
month timetable for completion became nearly three years.

But they finished eventually, and in 1957 the result of their labors was 
shown to the world. It was called Formula Translator — Fortran, for short. 
John Backus, who led the team at I.B.M., came up with the name to no great 
enthusiasm from his colleagues. They used to joke that it sounded like 
something spelled backward. But nobody could come up with a better idea, so 
the name stuck, as did Fortran, a programming language that was a historic 
breakthrough in computing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/13/technology/13LOHR.html



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