john atanasoff. in her book, the man who invented the computer, she introduces the physics professor so frustrated by performing tedious math calculations that he created a machine which would do it for him, later known as a computer. ms. smiley discusses the road traveled by the inventor, why he remained unknown for so long with "washington post" technology reporter cecilia kang. >> host: hello. i'm cecilia kang. i'm a reporter for the "washington post" and i joined here with jane smiley. very pleased to see you and to have you here. jane has written a really interesting book that sort of at this -- "the man who invented the computer." the biography of john atanasoff. this seems like a departure, the biography. different from a lot of your work that you are better known for. why write this book? what interested you about john atanasoff? >> guest: i studied at iowa state, i spent a long time in the state of iowa. my second husband was the editor of the magazine which is a history magazine of iowa. an