Bashir Rameev

{{Short description|Soviet computer scientist (1918–1994)}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Bashir Rameev

| image = Bashir_Rameev.jpg

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1918|5|1|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Baymak, Orsky Uyezd, Orenburg Governorate, Russian SFSR

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|5|16|1918|5|1|df=yes}}

| death_place = Moscow, Russia

| field = Computer scientist

| work_institutions = {{ubl|Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union|Special Design Bureau-245 (Russian: СКБ-245)|National Research Nuclear University "MEPhI"|Scientific Research Institute of Control Computers|USSR State Committee on Science and Technology}}

| known_for = {{ubl|First USSR patent in electronic computing|Strela computer|Ural computer series}}

| prizes = Stalin Prize

}}

Bashir Iskandarovich Rameev ({{langx|ru|Баши́р Исканда́рович Раме́ев}}; formerly "Rameyev" in English; 1 May 1918 – 16 May 1994) was a Soviet inventor and scientist, one of the founders of Soviet computing, author of 23 patents,Л.Н. Ефремов. (1985). Справка об изобретательной деятельности Рамеева Башира Искандаровича. Архив Московского Политехнического Музея. Стр.1. including the first patent in the field of electronic computers officially registered in the USSR—a patent for the Automatic Electronic Digital Machine (1948).Авторское свидетельство # 10475 от 4 декабря 1948 г., Архив Политехнического Музея, Москва. Rameev's inventions paved the way for the development of a new field in Soviet science—electronic computing—and for the formation of a new branch of industry that supported it.

The central ideas incorporated in Rameev's invention of the electronic computer included: storing programs in computer memory, using binary code, utilizing external devices, and deploying electronic circuits and semiconductor diodes. The first publication about similar technology outside of the USSR appeared in 1949–1950.Л.Н. Ефремов. (1985). Справка об изобретательной деятельности Рамеева Башира Искандаровича. Архив Московского Политехнического Музея. Стр.1.; Борис Николаевич Малиновский. (1995). История Вычислительной Техники в Лицах. Киев: Фирма Кит, ПТОО А.С.К., стр.240-242. Rameev also suggested that intermediate computation data be automatically printed on punched tape and sent into the computer's arithmetic device for subsequent processing, meaning that the processing of commands would be performed in the computer's arithmetic device; this is usually referred to as the Von Neumann architecture.Georg Trogemann; Alexander Nitussov, Wolfgang Ernst, eds. (2001) Computing in Russia: The History of Computer Devices and Information Technology Revealed. Braunschweig and Wiesbaden: Vieweg & Sohn Verlagsgesellsschaft mbH,. p. 149.

Of particular note is Rameev's invention of diode-matrix control circuits, which were used to build his first brainchild, the first serially manufactured Soviet mainframe "Strela" (1954).Л.Н. Ефремов. (1985). Справка об изобретательной деятельности Рамеева Башира Искандаровича. Архив Московского Политехнического Музея. Стр.3. In the 1950s, the diode-matrix control circuits were not widespread due to their significant dimensions and high power consumption. However, with subsequent development of microelectronics and the emergence of large-scale integrated circuits, which made possible to deploy tens or hundreds of thousands of diodes and transistors in a single piece of silicon, the concept of control circuits became viable and commonly used.

"Strela" computers carried out calculations in nuclear physics, rocketry and space research.Л.Н. Ефремов. (1985). Ibid, стр.2. Notably, one of "Strelas" was used to calculate "Sputnik" orbit trajectory. For the development of "Strela" Rameev and his team were awarded the Stalin Prize of first degree, which was the highest Soviet award at that time.Georg Trogemann; Alexander Nitussov, Wolfgang Ernst, eds. (2001) Computing in Russia: The History of Computer Devices and Information Technology Revealed. Braunschweig and Wiesbaden: Vieweg & Sohn Verlagsgesellsschaft mbH,. p. 150.

Between 1956 and 1969, Rameev designed and oversaw the manufacturing of 14 different computers including: the multi-purpose "Ural" computer series and the specialized machines "Weather" ("Погода"), "Crystal" ("Кристалл"), "Granite" ("Гранит"), and "Coordinate" ("Координата").Л.Н. Ефремов. (1985). Справка об изобретательной деятельности Рамеева Башира Искандаровича. Архив Московского Политехнического Музея. Стр.2. Rameev's "famous computer family 'Ural' existed more than 15 years and had good chances to be one of the corner stones of future Russian computer engineering".Georg Trogemann; Alexander Nitussov, Wolfgang Ernst, eds. (2001) Computing in Russia: The History of Computer Devices and Information Technology Revealed. Braunschweig and Wiesbaden: Vieweg & Sohn Verlagsgesellsschaft mbH,. p. 151.