EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) was an early electronic computer that embodied several important technological advances, including the stored-program concept. Though construction of EDVAC was completed in 1949, this large and complex computer was not fully operational until 1951. EDVAC was the successor to ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer), which is generally regarded as the first general-purpose electronic computer. ENIAC was built by a team of engineers and scientists at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Engineering from 1943 to 1945. Physicist John Mauchly (1907-1980) was the lead design engineer on the team, while J. Presper Eckert (1919-1995) was the lead electrical engineer. Mauchly and Eckert made significant contributions to computing during the 1940s and 1950s. Both men recognized that ENIAC, though one of the most powerful computers of its day, had serious shortcomings. These were also recognized by...