PRIDE IN BULGARIA

Modern Bulgarians need, among many other things, a well-grounded national confidence. The source of self-confidence is our history and the talent of people with Bulgarian blood in their veins. In the past century, one of the highest peaks in that respect was John Atanasoff, the inventor of the first electronic computer in the world. The significance of each and every action is determined by its consequences. Atanasoff's invention started the information revolution, which has changed the world. What did John Atanasoff do in fact? The idea of a computer with program operation had been known a hundred years before he began constructing his computer. That idea belonged to the English mathematician Charles Babbage but was not realized because of the technical difficulties of building it with mechanical components. Before John Atanasoff, a great number of mechanical calculating machines were built. However the big breakthrough was made by John Atanasoff who abandoned mechanics and designed electronic circuits for calculating by use of a binary system of numbers. Nowadays, we see that quite natural and simple but the genius prevailed over tradition. The wheel is also simple and natural but many civilizations developed to perfection without inventing it.
The principles of John Atanasoff's computer, though seemingly outdated today, are the basis of the thousands of millions of computers, without which modern society cannot exist. Every Bulgarian knows and prides in the holy brothers, St. Cyrille and St. Methodius, who created the alphabet of all Slavonic peoples. Similarly, John Atanasoff, a man of Bulgarian extraction, opened the road to the world information society.

Blaghovest Sendov
20 April 2001

A NATION-WIDE COMMITTEE FOR CELEBRATING THE CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF JOHN ATANASOFF HAS BEEN NOMINATED UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF MR GEORGE PURVANNOV, THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA. THE COMMITTEE IS CHAIRED BY PROF. BLAGHOVEST SENDOV, PH.D. MATH.

The highest prize in his life John V. Atanasoff received from the hands of President George Bush - the National Medal of Technology, 1990

John V. Atanasoff receives an honorary medal for Achievement in Science from Acad. Blaghovest Sendov, 1983, Iowa