Giant brains; or, Machines that thinkBerkeley, Edmund Callis
Science
Giant brains; or, Machines that think
Berkeley, Edmund Callis
Computers -- Popular works
A differential analyzer was built at Manchester University, England.
It was built first from “Meccano” parts, at a total cost of about 20
pounds, and later refined for more exact work. Some articles dealing
with this differential analyzer are:
HARTREE, D. R., The Differential Analyzer,
_Nature_, vol. 135, June 8, 1935, p. 940.
HARTREE, D. R., The Mechanical Integration
of Differential Equations, _The Mathematical
Gazette_, vol. 22, 1938, pp. 342-364.
HARTREE, D. R., and A. PORTER,
The Construction of a Model Differential Analyser,
_Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester
Literary and Philosophical Society_, vol. 79,
July 1935, pp. 51-72.
Other small scale differential analyzers built in England are covered
in:
BEARD, R. E., The Construction of a Small
Scale Differential Analyser and Its Application to
the Calculation of Actuarial Functions, _Journal
of the Institute of Actuaries_, vol. 71, 1942,
pp. 193-227.
MASSEY, H. S. W., J. WYLIE,
and R. A. BUCKINGHAM, A Small Scale
Differential Analyser: Its Construction and
Operation, _Proceedings of the Royal Irish
Academy_, vol. 45, 1938, pp. 1-21.
A differential analyzer constructed in Germany is briefly described in
the following:
SAUER, R., and H. POESCH, Integrating
Machine for Solving Ordinary Differential
Equations, _Engineers Digest_ (American
Edition), vol. 1, May 1944, pp. 326-328.
From the historical point of view there are some interesting papers on
a machine for solving differential equations by Sir William Thomson
(Lord Kelvin), including one by his brother James Thomson. They are
in the _Proceedings of the Royal Society_, vol. 24, Feb. 1876, pp.
262-275. The method of integration by a machine is described, but
the state of machine tools at the time was such that no accurate
mechanism was constructed. Another interesting paper foreshadowing the
differential analyzer is:
WAINWRIGHT, LAWRENCE L., _A Ballistic
Engine_, Chicago: University of Chicago,
thesis for Master’s Degree, 1923, 28 pp.
Some of the applications and mathematical limitations of differential
analyzers are covered in:
BUSH, V., and S. H. CALDWELL,
Thomas-Fermi Equation Solution by the Differential
Analyzer, _Physical Review_, vol. 38, no. 10,
1931, pp. 1898-1902.
HARTREE, D. R., A Great Calculating Machine:
the Bush Differential Analyser and Its Applications
in Science and Industry, _Proceedings of the
Royal Institution of Great Britain_, vol. 31,
1940, pp. 151-170.
HARTREE, D. R., and A. PORTER,
The Application of the Differential Analyser
to Transients on a Distortionless Transmission
Line, _Journal of the Institute of Electrical
Engineering_, vol. 83, no. 503, Nov. 1938,
pp. 648-656.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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