Guide to the Chuck Moore, John Rible, Dean Sanderson and Greg Bailey collection on Forth
Computer History Museum
April 2019
1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.
Mountain View, CA, 94043
(650) 810-1010
research@computerhistory.org
Title: Chuck Moore, John Rible, Dean Sanderson and Greg Bailey collection on Forth
Identifier/Call Number: X6902.2014
Contributing Institution:
Computer History Museum
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
10.0 Linear feet,
8 record cartons
Date (inclusive): 1970-2002
Abstract: The Chuck Moore, John Rible, Dean Sanderson and Greg Bailey collection on Forth, ranging in date from 1970 to 2002, contains
materials generated by and for the Forth community. Types of materials in the collection include conference proceedings, journals,
manuals, reference books, periodicals, program listings, microfiche, and a small amount of software. The collection can be
roughly split into three main parts, with about a third of the collection made up of conference proceedings, another third
comprised of journals and newsletters, and the final third holding books and reference manuals.
creator:
Bailey, Greg
creator:
Moore, Charles H., 1938-
creator:
Rible, John
creator:
Sanderson, Dean
Collection surveyed by Sydney Gulbronson Olson, 2018.
The collection is open for research. However, the collection may require review by CHM staff before viewing.
The Computer History Museum (CHM) can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying
any claims of the copyright holder. Requests for copying and permission to publish, quote, or reproduce any portion of the
Computer History Museum's collection must be obtained jointly from both the copyright holder (if applicable) and the Computer
History Museum.
[Identification of item], [Date], Chuck Moore, John Rible, Dean Sanderson and Greg Bailey collection on Forth, Lot X6902.2014,
Box [#], Computer History Museum.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Chuck Moore, John Rible, Dean Sanderson and Greg Bailey, 2013.
Forth is a programming language designed by Charles "Chuck" Moore for use in embedded and real-time applications. Forth is
unique because its development and proliferation was a grass-roots effort, rather than one supported by universities or corporations.
Chuck Moore created the language in 1971 and cofounded FORTH, Inc. in 1973. In 1983, Moore founded Novix, Inc., where he developed
the NC4000 processor, which was designed to run Forth. The chip design was later purchased by Harris Semiconductor Corporation
and marketed as the RTX2000. In 2009, Moore cofounded and became CTO of GreenArrays, Inc. Dean Sanderson, Greg Bailey, and
John Rible are colleagues of Moore's at GreenArrays and have also worked with him informally on a variety of computer projects
since the 1970s. Additionally, Sanderson is very involved in the Forth community and was the principal architect of microFORTH.
Moore, Sanderson, Bailey, and Rible all helped to compile these materials about Forth over the years since its development,
and the collection was stored at the GreenArrays office until its donation to the Computer History Museum in 2013.
Scope and Content of the Collection
The Chuck Moore, John Rible, Dean Sanderson and Greg Bailey collection on Forth contains materials generated by and for the
Forth community between 1970 and 2002. Types of materials in the collection include conference proceedings, journals, manuals,
reference books, periodicals, and software. Most of the materials address the development of Forth as a programming language
and tool. About a third of the collection is made up of conference proceedings from events such as the Rochester Forth conferences
and FORML (Forth Modification Laboratory) conferences. Another third of the collection holds journals and newsletters, such
as
Journal of Forth Application and Research,
Forth Dimensions,
ACM SIGForth,
ACM SIGPlan, and
More on NC4000. The final third of the collection contains publications such as books and reference manuals, most of which pertain to Forth
programming. Many of the books were sent to Chuck Moore with inscriptions from users of Forth. In addition to the published
materials that make up the bulk of the collection, there are a small amount of program listings on paper and microfiche as
well as software, including MacForth Plus and MacGDS.
Physical objects and a framed chip plot were separated from the main collection. To view catalog records for separated material,
search the CHM catalog at
http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/search/ .
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Forth Modification Laboratory (Calif.).
Forth, Inc.
Rochester FORTH Applications Conference.
FORTH (Computer program language)