John W. Backus
A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress
Prepared by Laura J. Kells
Manuscript Division,
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
2004
Contact information:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress Manuscript Division,
2007
Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms007001
Title: Papers of John W. Backus
Span Dates: 1951-2001
Bulk Dates: (bulk 1953-1991)
ID No.: MSS84968
Creator:
Backus, John W.,
1924-
Extent: 2,000
items;
12 containers plus 1 oversize;
4.8 linear feet
Language: Collection material in
English
Repository:
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress,
Washington, D.C.
Abstract: Computer scientist.
Correspondence, memoranda, reports, writings, speeches, notes, slides,
photographs, and other papers relating to his work on programming languages,
particularly FORTRAN.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person
or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed
alphabetically therein.
Names:
Backus, John W.,
1924-
Backus,
John W., 1924- --Political activity
International Business Machines Corporation
Subjects:
Ballistic missile
defenses
Calculators
Computers
FORTRAN (Computer program
language)
Programming languages
(Electronic computers)
Occupations:
Computer
scientists
Provenance: The papers of John W. Backus, computer scientist, were given to the
Library of Congress by Backus in 2003.
Transfers: A sound recording has been transferred to the Motion Picture,
Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division where it is identified as part of the
John W. Backus Papers.
Copyright Status: Copyright in the unpublished writings of John W. Backus in these
papers and in other collections in the custody of the Library of Congress is
reserved. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division for further
information.
Preferred Citation:Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, John W. Backus Papers, Manuscript
Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
| Date |
Event |
| 1924, Dec. 3 |
Born, Philadelphia, Pa. |
| 1942 |
Attended University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. |
| 1943-1946 |
United States Army, studied engineering at University of
Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa., and medicine at Flower and Fifth Avenue Medical
School, New York, N.Y.
|
| 1949 |
B.S. in mathematics, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
|
| 1950 |
M.A. in mathematics, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
|
| 1950-1953 |
Programmer, IBM, New York, N.Y. |
| 1953-1959 |
Manager, programming research, IBM, Yorktown Heights,
N.Y.
|
| 1959-1963 |
Staff member, T. J. Watson Research Center, IBM, Yorktown
Heights, N.Y.
|
| 1963-1991 |
IBM fellow, Yorktown Heights, N.Y., and Almaden Research
Center, San Jose, Calif.
|
| 1968 |
Married Barbara Una Stannard |
| 1976 |
Received National Medal of Science (National Science
Foundation)
|
| 1977 |
Received A. M. Turing Award (Association for Computing
Machinery)
|
| 1993 |
Received Charles Stark Draper Prize (National Academy of
Engineering)
|
The papers of John Warner Backus (1924- ) span the years 1951-2001,
with the bulk of the material dating from 1953 to 1991. They relate primarily
to his work as a computer scientist at IBM from 1950 to 1991 where he developed
FORTRAN, the first commercially successful high-level programming language.
Documents in the Backus Papers are arranged in numerical order according to a
system prepared by Backus. His item list containing descriptive comments about
individual items or groups of items is located at the beginning of the
collection. Another copy is appended to this register.
Included in the collection are correspondence, memoranda, reports,
papers, speeches and lectures, notes, articles, manuals, and historical
retrospectives relating to Backus’s activities as a pioneer in computer
programming. Items from the early years include notes on his work with IBM’s
Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator, a 1954 preliminary report on
specifications for FORTRAN, early programming manuals, correspondence with the
first FORTRAN customers, photographs from a meeting of the committee working on
the international algebraic language ALGOL, and a paper from 1959 in which
Backus proposed what later became the Backus-Naur Form (BNF) used to describe
grammatical rules for high-level programming languages.
From 1963 until his retirement in 1991 Backus held the position of
IBM Fellow and pursued his own research projects relating to mathematical
theories of programming and the development of functional programming
languages. This work is documented in annual reports, internal project papers,
texts of lectures, and photographs of calculations on blackboards. Also
included are files documenting Backus’s political activism as a member of
Computer Professionals Against ABM (anti-ballistic missile system) in the early
1970s and as an opponent of the strategic defense initiative in the 1980s.
This collection is arranged in numerical order according to a system
prepared by Backus.
| Container |
Contents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| BOX 1
|
Item list,
n.d.
|
|
| BOX 1
|
Item numbers |
|
| BOX 1
|
Nos. 1-20,
1953-1994, n.d.
|
|
(22
folders)
|
|
| BOX 2
|
Nos. 21-33,
1958-1987, n.d.
|
|
(16
folders)
|
|
| BOX 3
|
Nos. 34-50,
1980-1990, n.d.
|
|
(19
folders)
|
|
| BOX 4
|
Nos. 51-65,
1954-1959, 1973, 1981-1991, n.d.
|
|
(17
folders)
|
|
| BOX 5
|
Nos. 66-91,
1951-1961, 1972-1987, n.d.
See also Oversize |
|
(26
folders)
|
|
| BOX 6
|
Nos. 92-118,
1953-1958, ca. 1966, 1975-1983, n.d.
|
|
(27
folders)
|
|
| BOX 7
|
Nos. 119-134,
1955-1961, 1971-1982, n.d.
|
|
(18
folders)
|
|
| BOX 8
|
Nos. 135-143,
1964-1989
|
|
(13
folders)
|
|
| BOX 9
|
Nos. 144-164,
1963-1989, n.d.
See also Oversize |
|
(22
folders)
|
|
| BOX 10
|
Nos. 165-184,
ca. 1959, 1967-1972, 1979-2001, n.d.
See also Oversize |
|
(21
folders)
|
|
| BOX 11
|
Nos. 185-194,
1961-1965, 1972-1974, 1988-1991, n.d.
|
|
(14
folders)
|
|
| BOX 12
|
Nos. 195-211,
1985-1994, n.d.
|
|
(17
folders)
|
|
| BOX OV 1
|
Oversize |
|
| BOX OV 1
|
Item numbers |
|
| BOX OV 1
|
No. 71,
ca. 1951-1952 (Container 5)
|
|
| BOX OV 1
|
No. 164,
1985 (Container 9)
|
|
| BOX OV 1
|
No. 169,
1982 (Container 10)
|
|
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