Subject: IGOR - the roots
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I still have my copy of igor 1.0, a blue 3.5 inch "double sided"
floppy, with a second floppy called "igor Extras".
I also have in my posession a brochure "New Version 1.1" that has in
the upper right corner in something like 72 point bold serif font
"Igor" and then under that in small print "Igor(e' go^r) n. a
scientist/engineer's asistant. 2. I(bold)nteractive
g(bold)graphics-o(bold)riented r(bold)esearch tool." The brochure is
dated (c) 1989 and denoted "Igor 1.1; brochure 1.0".
I also have the back panel of a box (c) 1994 that actually shows a
picture of Igor: long nose, glasses (or protruding eyes) 5 bold wavy
hairs. "The Scientist/Engineer's Assistant". System requirements 4 MB
memory or more; 68020 or better CPU and math coprocessor recommended;
System 6.0.7 or later; System 7 recommended. Those were the days.
steve
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At 12:33 PM -0700 8/11/09, Howard Rodstein wrote:
> >1) What does the name "IGOR" stand for?
>
>This is so obscure that I could not find the answer via:
>
>1. Google
>2. Spotlight on my computer
>3. My Igor 1.24 manual
>4. My copy of the Fall, 1990 issue of "TargetWindow" (the WaveMetrics
>newsletter published once a decade or so)
>
>I finally found it on the Igor Pro 1.2 brochure. It stands for:
>"Interactive Graphical Operations for Research".
>
>>2) What is the history of IGOR? Who developed it, when (first official
>>version) and for what purpose (spectrometry??) ?
>
>My recollection is that Igor was started in early 1987. It was started by
>Dr. Larry Hutchinson (President of WaveMetrics, Inc.).
>
>Larry recruited me that spring. I started to teach myself C using my 1MB
>Mac Plus (which started life in 1984 as a 128K Mac) with one 512K floppy
>drive and a stunning 9 inch black and white monitor.
>
>I got a job in 1978 as Larry's technician at Princeton Applied Research, a
>scientific instrument manufacturer. Not long thereafter, Larry designed and
>we built the PAR Model 4402 Signal Processor. We obtained pre-production
>samples of the Motorola 68000 microprocessor and built a computer, designed
>by Larry, based on it. A prototype of the 4402 is in my attic and still
>worked the last time I checked (circa 1992).
>
>The 4402 software was written in Forth by Larry with a little help from me.
>It had features like waveform acquisition, synthesis and display, Fourier
>transforms and smoothing. I wrote the RS-232 and GPIB I/O functionality for
>it.
>
>IGOR (or as we more often call it, Igor), was conceived as a
>general-purpose data analysis and display program for scientists and
>engineers. The name was suggested by Larry's wife, Kim, to connote
>"scientist's assistant".
>
>Igor 1.0 shipped on two floppy disks in January of 1989.
>
>Tom Peterson and Jim Prouty joined the company in 1989 and are still with
>us. Jim suggested the name WaveMetrics.
>
>Howard Rodstein
>WaveMetrics
>
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Igor mailing list
>Igor at igor.nhmfl.gov
>http://opsxserve.magnet.fsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/igor
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Stephen E. Schwartz, Senior Scientist mailto:ses at bnl.gov
Atmospheric Sciences Division Phone: (631) 344-3100
Brookhaven National Laboratory Fax: (631) 344-2887
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