> For many years, it has been popular to predict that FORTRAN soon will be a dead language, to be replaced by a "better" language. Despite the undeniable fact that there are more eloquent, rich and powerful languages available, FORTRAN continues to be used widely and, indeed, is still the most popular programming language for scientific and engineering applications.
From "The Handbook of Computers and Computing", by Arthur H. Seidman and Ivan Flores, 1984, https://archive.org/details/handbookofcomput00seid/page/342/... :
> For many years, it has been popular to predict that FORTRAN soon will be a dead language, to be replaced by a "better" language. Despite the undeniable fact that there are more eloquent, rich and powerful languages available, FORTRAN continues to be used widely and, indeed, is still the most popular programming language for scientific and engineering applications.
From NASA Conference Publication 2055, Engineering and Scientific Data Management, 1978,https://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_19780025833/pa...
> Margaret White: ... I know FORTRAN is essentially a dead language, but there is a lot of FORTRAN around. Would you care to respond?
> Jim Browne: Is there anyone from IBM who would care to respond? The microphone is yours. Who is it? How many times has FORTRAN been buried?