huinventors1-6, Exercise 2: The credit dispute

Model answer:

One view: the 1945 report on the EDVAC carried only von Neumann's name, but it summarised ideas worked out by a team at the University of Pennsylvania, including Eckert and Mauchly, who built ENIAC. So naming the architecture after him hides the team's contribution, and many historians say it should not be credited to one person.

The other view: von Neumann gave the ideas a clear logical form and spread them widely through the report and his standing, which made them influential. He is strongest on clarity and influence, and shares the credit for the idea and the build. Accounts differ, and details should be checked.