In
1937, Howard Aiken proposed a new kind of calculating
machine. He wrote in his proposal, "There exist problems
beyond our ability to solve, not because of theoretical
difficulties, but because of insufficient means of mechanical
computation." In 1939, four IBM engineers and Aiken
began design and construction at IBM, Endicott, N.Y. of
this large scale automatic digital calculator.
The
Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator, or Mark I, as
it is usually called, was designed to perform computations
by following automatically a sequence of instructions
prepared by a programmer.