1. A Tribute to Herman Hollerith
(Mr. IBM)
"We get paid for working with our heads."
--Herman Hollerith
If you studied the history of computers, Charles Babbage
(Ada Lovelace's mentor) is at the top of the list with his
theoretical design of a rudimentary steam-driven numbers
cruncher in 1822. A century later, a group of English
scientists took his design and built the numbers cruncher.
In second place came Mr. IBM himself (Herman Hollerith)
with his invention of a mechanical punch card-based
numbers cruncher in 1890. (If you thought that Ada
Lovelace should have come in second place behind her
mentor, she is at the top of the list concerning the history of
computer software.)
Herman's date of birth is February 29, 1860 (year of
America's Civil War). His date of death is November 17,
1929 (year of the stock market crash).
In 1879, Herman graduated from Columbia University
(CU) with a B.S. degree in mining. Because of the rigorous
courses that he took (i.e. Chemistry, Physics, Geometry,
Surveying & Graphics, Surveying & Assaying, and visits to
metallurgical & machine shops to understand how the
functionality thereof), I would definitely rate this defining
moment as Herman's first major inheritance from his
professors.
1

2. After his graduation from CU, Herman received an offer to
work at Uncle Sam's Census Bureau as an Assistant to
William Petit Trowbridge, his former teacher. Herman met
Dr. John Shaw Billings, Department head over Vital
Statistics, through his daughter (Kate Sherman Billings,
Herman's girl friend). Dr. John's theoretical assistance and
motivation became Herman's second major inheritance.
Herman's mentor is deserving of a brief digression from
Herman's mini-biography because Dr. John was a
contributing factor (on a theoretical level) to Herman's
invention.
Dr. John's primary legacy can be summed up as being the
chief organizer of medical knowledge in libraries. (Being
the designer of the original buildings of John Hopkins
Hospital in 1889 was a side note in comparison to his
contributions to the formation of libraries--funded by
Andrew Carnegie--throughout New York.)
Let's focus on Dr. John's contributions to Uncle Sam's
Census Bureau. Dr. John was able to transform medical and
demographic data into numbers that were PUNCHED ON
CARDBOARD CARDS as developed by Herman. Dr. John
was responsible for the WHAT of punched cards. Herman
was responsible for the HOW of punched cards.
The best advice that Dr. John gave to Herman is for him to
study a weaving device (Herman's third major inheritance)
called a Jacquard loom (named in honor of Frenchman
Joseph Marie Jacquard who invented the device). Joseph
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3. had a similar dilemma as Herman when it came to
repetitive tasks that could be automated. Joseph invented a
system that consisted of weaving (cloth making) patterns
represented by punched holes. Herman was able to apply
Joseph's punched hole system of making cloths to his
system of processing numbers.
Herman's invention consisted of the use of electrical
connections to record information via a counter that was
triggered by those electrical connections. The information
was recorded by the punched holes in a card. According to
Herman, information that was punched in certain locations
(later called rows and columns) on a card can also be
counted/sorted in a mechanical manner.
Allow me to enter a deeper level of specificity concerning
the mechanics of Herman's invention that revolutionized
the US Bureau of Statistics. Holes were punched on
cards/sheets made of material that was a conduit of
electricity. The holes represented a specific relationship to
each other (i.e. a hole in one position represented a male, a
hole in another position represented a female, a hole in a
different position represented a US citizen, and in another
position a foreigner) and to a standardized format (the
brains--Centralized Processing Unit---of Herman's
invention).
The format is used to count items either separately or
together. The counting was done mechanically by electro-
magnetic circuits that are controlled by the holes on the
cards/sheets. In other words, when a hole is passed over a
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4. drum, an electrical circuit for each hole is completed. Each
electrical current that is caused by a hole is considered a
hit/count for a statistic (number of males, females, US
citizens, foreigners, etc).
The hole punching system is similar to the binary system of
ones (holes) and zeros (no holes). Hence, Herman's
invention was a pre-cursor to the modern computer storage
of digital data. Assembly language courses teach you how
to use ones (1) and zeros (0) to form representations of
numbers, characters, and logic. The binary representation
of basic numbers (4 bits required) is as follows:
0000 = 0
0001 = 1
0010 = 2
0011 = 3
0100 = 4
0101 = 5
0110 = 6
0111 = 7
1000 = 8
1001 = 9
1010 = 10
1011 = 11
4

5. 1100 = 12
1101 = 13
1110 = 14
1111 = 15
10000101 (8 bits/1 byte required) = 128 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 4
+ 0 + 1 = 133
The binary representation of our alphabet (ASCII standard)
is as follows (binary number--base 2--is the representation
of the decimal number--base 10):
Symbol Decimal Binary (8 bits/1 byte required)
A 65 01000001
B 66 01000010
C 67 01000011
D 68 01000100
E 69 01000101
F 70 01000110
G 71 01000111
H 72 01001000
I 73 01001001
J 74 01001010
K 75 01001011
L 76 01001100
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6. M 77 01001101
N 78 01001110
O 79 01001111
P 80 01010000
Q 81 01010001
R 82 01010010
S 83 01010011
T 84 01010100
U 85 01010101
V 86 01010110
W 87 01010111
X 88 01011000
Y 89 01011001
Z 90 01011010
Symbol Decimal Binary
a 97 01100001
b 98 01100010
c 99 01100011
d 100 01100100
6

7. e 101 01100101
f 102 01100110
g 103 01100111
h 104 01101000
i 105 01101001
j 106 01101010
k 107 01101011
l 108 01101100
m 109 01101101
n 110 01101110
o 111 01101111
p 112 01110000
q 113 01110001
r 114 01110010
s 115 01110011
t 116 01110100
u 117 01110101
v 118 01110110
w 119 01110111
x 120 01111000
y 121 01111001
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8. z 122 01111010
. 250 11111010
Space 32 00100000
If I want a computer to understand the following sentence:
I want 10 boxes.
Any computer programming language (i.e. Ada) would
translate the preceding sentence into the following binary
representation:
Symbol Decimal Binary
I 73 01001001
Space 32 00100000
w 87 01010111
a 97 01100001
n 110 01101110
t 116 01110100
Space 32 00100000
10 10 1010
Space 32 00100000
b 98 01100010
o 111 01101111
x 120 01111000
e 101 01100101
s 115 01110011
. 250 11111010
8

9. Here's the sentence in our English language:
I want 10 boxes.
Here's the sentence in the computer's language:
01001001 00100000 01010111 01100001 01101110
01110100 00100000 1010 00100000 01100010 01101111
01111000 01100101 01110011 11111010
Binary logic is used as a representation of electrical
circuitry in computers that have a number of input
electrical lines A, B, C, ... and a number of output electrical
lines with the result of either on (1) or off (0).
In the case of real digital circuits, currents that are passed
through the lines with a voltage between about 5 and 15 are
called ON or TRUE or 1. Currents that are passed with a
voltage near zero are called OFF or FALSE or 0. TRUE
represents the digit 1, and FALSE represents the digit 0.
The binary expressions of logic are as follows (NOT, OR,
AND, NOR, NAND, and EOR):
[1] NOT(A) = 1 if A=0; NOT(A) = 0 if A=1.
[2] A OR B = 1 if A or B = 1; A OR B = 0 if both A and B
= 0.
9

10. [3] A AND B = 1 if A and B = 1; A AND B = 0 if A or B =
0.
[4] A NOR B = NOT(A OR B). The symbol "NOR" means
the opposite of the "OR" symbol, which is the "AND"
symbol.
[5] A NAND B = NOT (A AND B). The symbol "NAND"
means the opposite of the "AND" symbol, which is the
"OR" symbol.
[6] A EOR B = 1 if either A or B = 1 but not both; A EOR
B = 0 if both A and B = 1 or both A and B = 0. The "EOR"
symbol means Exclusively OR.
The following are logic tables that graphically express the
preceding logic:
[1] "NOT" Table
A not(A)
0 1
1 0
[2] "OR" Table
A B A OR B
0 0 0
0 1 1
10

11. 1 0 1
1 1 1
[3] "AND" Table
A B A AND B
0 0 0
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1
[4] "NOR" Table
A B A OR B NOT(AOR B) = A NOR B
0 0 0 1
0 1 1 0
1 0 1 0
1 1 1 0
[5] "NAND" Table
A B A AND B NOT(A AND B) = A NAND B
0 0 0 1
0 1 0 1
1 0 0 1
11

12. 1 1 1 0
[6] "EOR" Table
A B A EOR B
0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 0
[END OF BINARY REPRESENTATION OF NUMBERS,
CHARACTERS, AND LOGIC]
Concerning the cards, Herman adopted Joseph's idea of
using cards on the weaving device. In Herman's case, he
decided to use cards on his statistical device. The
computer's punched cards were later named the Hollerith
cards in honor of Herman Hollerith. Also, the Hollerith
constants/strings (declaration of string constants in
computer programming) were named in honor of Herman
Hollerith.
The cards were the same dimensions of our paper
denominations (6" long by 2.8" wide). The main advantage
of such a dimension was that the cards could be sorted/re-
sorted with relative ease in comparison to the long
continuous strips that were difficult to correct when sorting
problems occurred (besides being easy to tear).
12

13. Herman replaced the drum component with the press (like
the printing press) that operated according to its name
(pressing the cards).
The revised counting routine was that the pins over the
holes passed through the cards that were submerged in
mercury (liquid metallic element). The mercury-filled cards
created electrical circuits that produced hits that are kept in
temporary storage by counters (similar to variables that
store temporary values like the following pseudo code
statement in which the variable "COUNT" stores the actual
number of whatever statistic that triggered it: COUNT =
COUNT + 1).
In 1882, while enrolling himself in CU's Ph.D program,
Herman taught mechanical engineering at MIT and begin
working on the mechanics of his invention (Herman's
fourth major inheritance deposited to his mind by MIT's
culture of creativity).
In 1884, Herman decided to file a patent application with
Uncle Sam's Patent Office. On the application, he entitled
his idea "Art of Compiling Statistics." It was during this
time that he received both motivation and theoretical
assistance from his mentor John.
In 1889, Herman put the preceding information concerning
his invention in his doctoral thesis entitled "An Electric
Tabulating System" that resulted in the fulfillment of his
goal of obtaining a Ph.D (Herman's fifth major
inheritance). Also in 1889 (five years after the application
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14. was submitted), Herman received his patent (his first
LEGACY).
After receiving his patent, Herman created a company
(named Tabulating Machine Company) that specialized in
making card punching machines (rudimentary form of
computers at the time). His first customers were Uncle
Sam's Navy and the US Census Bureau that used Herman's
product to formulate the 1890 census in one year ($5
million in savings). (It took 8 years to formulate the 1880
census).
The cards/sheets were sold separately from the machine. In
those days, machines were leased instead of purchased.
(Hardware was expensive in those days.) Herman's
tabulating computers were leased by census organizations
around the world (New Jersey, New York, Maryland,
England, Italy, Germany, Russia, Canada, France, Norway,
Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines). The computers
were leased by insurance companies also.
Thomas J. Watson (first President of newly formed IBM)
became Herman's sixth major inheritance because of his
skills as a master salesman. Herman made the computers.
Thomas sold the computers. It was a match made in
Heaven, and IBM's bottom line proved it.
Herman continued to make advancements to his invention.
For instance, he increased the input speed of data entry
operators by creating the first automatic card-feed
mechanism and the first keyboard that was used to punch
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15. holes in the cards. As a result, skilled data entry operators
could punch 200-300 cards per hour (his second
LEGACY). Also, Herman created a tabulator (device used
to read data from the punched cards and to generate an
output of printed lists of the result--his third LEGACY)
that was designed to be used only for 1890 Census cards.
In 1906, Herman refined his tabulator by adding to it a plug
board control panel (his fourth LEGACY) that enabled the
Type I Tabulator to be used for different purposes without
tinkering with the hardware. (This concept became the
precursor to computer programming. However, Ada
Lovelace's invention of algorithms pre-dated the
"algorithmic brains" behind Herman's plug board control
panel.)
In 1911, four companies (including Herman's company)
united under the umbrella name Computing Tabulating
Recording Company (CTR). When Herman appointed
Thomas J. Watson to be the combined company's first
President, the name was changed to International Business
Machines (IBM) in 1924. IBM became Herman
Hollerith's fifth and longest lasting LEGACY.
(By the way, the quickest way to become a CEO is to be
great in sales. If you don't believe me, ask people like Lee
Iacocca and Larry Ellison who were great salesmen.)
2 of Herman's great-grandsons (Herman Hollerith IV and
Randolph Marshall Hollerith) are Episcopal Bishop of the
Diocese of Southern Virginia and Episcopal Priest in
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16. Richmond, Virginia respectively. (Don't forget that
children are legacies also. The Bible calls them heritages of
the LORD.) Herman had 6 children to come from his wife's
womb. If you have children, then please stop complaining
about now having a legacy. Your children are your legacy.
Whether they are good or bad legacies is dependant on your
ability to train up your children in the way that they should
go so that when they become adults, they won't depart from
your training.
I presented unto you another biographical example of a
person (just like you and me) who was able to convert the
inheritances he received in a variety of ways (professors at
CU, his mentor at Uncle Sam's Census Bureau, and Joseph
Marie Jacquard's invention of the loom) into tremendous
legacies (patents of his inventions and IBM that is still in
operation today as more of a service company instead of a
hardware company).
Herman's legacies were improved upon by others. Such
improvements are to be expected because of the
advancement of knowledge. Herman himself was able to
improved Joseph Marie Jacquard's legacy of the Jacquard
loom. Even Moore's law (and other similar laws about the
rate of technology's advancement) confirms it.
If Herman could leave a legacy for others to enjoy, you can
do it also (on a smaller scale). A legacy is a legacy whether
it's a large company that employs thousands of people or
the ability to clean things. Legacies do not depend on how
many people know about your creation. All you need is at
16

17. least one person to know about it and to receive it as an
inheritance.
Salvation Prayer (for those who are not saved)
"Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of Jesus
Christ. Your Word says, 'Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved,' and 'If thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved (Romans 10:9).' You said my salvation would be the
result of Your Holy Spirit giving me new birth by coming to
live within me (John 3:5,6,15-16; Romans 8:9-11) and that
if I would ask, You would fill me with Your Holy Spirit and
give me the ability to speak with other tongues (Luke
11:13; Acts 2:4)."
"I take You at Your Word. I confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord. And I believe in my heart that You raised Jesus
Christ from the dead. I thank You for coming into my heart,
for giving me Your Holy Spirit as You have promised, and
for being Lord over my life. Amen."
If you have just prayed this prayer, please let me know of
your decision. Also, use the following contact information
to receive your FREE GIFT:
kcm.org/salvation
(the web of Kenneth Copeland Ministries)
1-800-600-7396
(phone number of Kenneth Copeland Ministries)
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18. Aaronic Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26)
"The LORD bless thee, and keep thee; the LORD make
his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The
LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee
peace." Amen and amen.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shaw_Billings
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/tabulator
http://l3d.cs.colorado.edu/courses/CSCI1200-
96/binary.html
http://www.kerryr.net/pioneers/ascii1.htm
http://www0.cs.ucl.ac.uk/teaching/B261/binary_logic.html
http://www.computersciencelab.com/ComputerHistory/Hist
oryPt2.htm
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Herman_Hollerith.asp
x
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Hollerith
http://www.livescience.com/20718-computer-history.html
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