In Search of the Original Fortran Compiler

In April 2002, Grady Booch sent out an email with the subject "Preserving classic software products." His appeal to provide top 10 lists and to suggest where to look for the source code received an enthusiastic response. Grady and the Computer History Museum organized a workshop in October 2003.1 As a result, a month later, a group of Computer History Museum trustees, staff and volunteers (including me) established the Software Collection Committee2 (SCC) to explore the software side of the museums mission: "To preserve and present for posterity the artifacts and stories of the information age." This article focuses on the collecting of Fortran materials.