Science, inventions & engineering
An Wang
1920–1990
Massachusetts connection
Harvard in Cambridge; Wang Laboratories
Born in Shanghai, Wang came to the United States and studied at Harvard. He developed important computer memory technology and founded Wang Laboratories. His career connects Massachusetts to immigration and the growth of modern computing. Computer memory helps a machine keep information it needs.
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Your turn, historian
Find a detail. Build an idea.
- What did this person or group do? Point to a detail in the reading.
- What problem did this person investigate? Who else helped make progress?
- What would you like to find out next? Which kind of source could help?
“An Wang mattered because ___. A detail that supports my idea is ___.”
Follow the evidence.
This short reading is an original classroom summary. Open the source with your teacher to check details and learn more.
Read the source: National Inventors Hall of Fame ↗Ask: Who made this source? What can it tell us? What might it leave out?