A Dartmouth First
BASIC
The
computer programming language BASIC was invented by Dartmouth College mathematicians
John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz. Designed to be used with the minimum of training,
BASIC was taught as a part of a course required of most students during the
1960s. The Mathematics Department estimated that, at its peak, BASIC was
understood by 80 percent of Dartmouth undergraduates. BASIC laid the foundation
for the software that was later used in the introduction of personal computers.