1927 AD |
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| In 1927, with the assistance of two colleagues at MIT, the American scientist, engineer, and politician Vannevar Bush designed an analog computer that could solve simple equations. This device, which Bush dubbed a Product Intergraph, was subsequently built by one of his students. |
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| Bush continued to develop his ideas and, in 1930, built a bigger version which he called a Differential Analyzer. The Differential Analyzer was based on the use of mechanical integrators that could be interconnected in any desired manner. To provide amplification, Bush employed torque amplifiers which were based on the same principle as a ship's capstan. The final device used its integrators, torque amplifiers, drive belts, shafts, and gears to measure movements and distances (not dissimilar in concept to an automatic slide rule). | Although Bush's first Differential Analyzer was driven by electric
motors, its internal operations were purely mechanical. In 1935 Bush developed a second
version, in which the gears were shifted electro-mechanically and which employed paper tapes to carry instructions and to set up the
gears. In our age, when computers can be constructed the size of postage stamps, it is difficult to visualize the scale of the problems that these early pioneers faced. To provide some sense of perspective, Bush's second Differential Analyzer weighed in at a whopping 100 tons! In addition to all of the mechanical elements, it contained 2000 vacuum tubes, thousands of relays, 150 motors, and approximately 200 miles of wire. |
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| As well as being a major achievement in its own right, the Differential Analyzer was also significant because it focused attention on analog computing techniques, and therefore detracted from the investigation and development of digital solutions for quite some time. | ||
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| These notes are abstracted from the book Bebop BYTES Back (An Unconventional Guide to Computers) Copyright Information |
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