Herman Hollerith

INDUCTED IN THE CLASS OF 2002

Notable accomplishments:

• Developed a machine that could save and read data from punch cards (1884)
• Founded the Tabulating Machine Company, which later become IBM (1896)

Quotes:
“While engaged in the 10th census, that of 1880, my attention was called by Dr. Billings to the need of some mechanical device for facilitating the compilation of population and similar statistics.” (“The Electrical Tabulating Machine,” London Royal Statistical Society, 1894)

“In a census the enumerator`s districts form the statistical units of the area, and a suitable combination is arranged to designate each such district. A card is punched with the corresponding combination for each person in such enumeration districts, and the cards of each district are then numbered consecutively, in a suitable numbering machine, to correspond with the number assigned to the individual records in the enumerator`s returns. This combination of holes and this number will serve to identify any card. Should any card become displaced, it is readily detected among a number of cards by the fact that one or more of these holes will not correspond with the hole in the balance of the cards. By means of a suitable wire or needle, a stack of a thousand or more cards can be tested in a few seconds, and any misplaced card detected.” (“An Electrical Tabulating System.” Columbia College, New York City School of Mines, Quarterly, A Journal of Applied Science, October 1888 – July 1889)

Suggested reading:
“Herman Hollerith: The Forgotten Giant of Information Processing” by Geoffrey Austrian (1982)

“The Development of Punch Card Tabulation in the Bureau of the Census 1890-1940” by Leon Truesdell (1965)

Learn more:
Herman Hollerith entry at the IEEE Computer Society

Herman Hollerith page at the U.S. Census Bureau