Giant brains; or, Machines that think

by Edmund Callis Berkeley

NETWORK ANALYZERS

A third branch of the analogue calculating machine is the network analyzer. To solve problems, this machine uses the laws governing a network of electrical circuits. For example, an electric power company with a system of power lines over hundreds of miles may have a problem about electrical power: will an accident or a sudden demand cause a breakdown anywhere in the system? In the General Electric Company in Schenectady, N. Y., there is a machine called the A.C. Network Analyzer. All the properties of the power company’s network of lines can be fed on a small scale into the analyzer. Certain dials are turned and certain plugwires are connected. Then various kinds of “accidents” and “sudden demands” are fed into the machine, and the response of the system is noted. The answers given by the machine are multiplied by the proper scale factor, and in this way the problem of the power company is solved.

There are two kinds of problems that network analyzers are built to solve: the steady state conditions and the transient conditions. For example, you may not overload a fuse with an electric iron when it is plugged in and being used, but as you pull out the cord, you may blow the fuse: the steady state does not overstrain the system, but the transient does.

Some articles on network analyzers are:

Enns, W. E., A New Simple Calculator of Load Flow in A.C. Networks, Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, vol. 62, 1943, pp. 786-790.

Hazen, H. L., and others, The M.I.T. Network Analyzer, Cambridge, Mass.: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering, Serial No. 69, Apr. 1931.

Kuehni, H. P., and R. G. Lorraine, A New A.C. Network Analyzer, Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, vol. 57, 1938, pp. 67-73.

Parker, W. W., Dual A.C. Network Calculator, Electrical Engineering, May 1945, pp. 182-183.

Parker, W. W., The Modern A.C. Network Calculator, Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, vol. 60, Nov. 1941, pp. 977-982.

Peterson, H. A., An Electric Circuit Transient Analyzer, General Electric Review, Sept. 1939, pp. 394-400.

Varney, R. N., An All-Electric Integrator for Solving Differential Equations, Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 13, Jan. 1942, pp. 10-16.

Some of the articles on applications of network analyzers to various problems are:

Kron, Gabriel, Equivalent Circuits of the Elastic Field, Journal of Applied Mechanics, vol. A11, Sept. 1944, pp. 146-161.

Kron, Gabriel, Tensorial Analysis and Equivalent Circuits of Elastic Structures, Journal of the Franklin Institute, vol. 238, Dec. 1944, pp. 399-442.

Kron, Gabriel, Numerical Solution of Ordinary and Partial Differential Equations by Means of Equivalent Circuits, Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 16, 1945, pp. 172-186.

Kron, Gabriel, Electric Circuit Models for the Vibration Spectrum of Polyatomic Molecules, Journal of Chemical Physics, vol. 14, no. 1, Jan. 1946, pp. 19-31.

Kron, G., and G. K. Carter, A.C. Network Analyzer Study of the Schrödinger Equation, Physical Review, vol. 67, 1945, pp. 44-49.

Kron, G., and G. K. Carter, Network Analyzer Tests of Equivalent Circuits of Vibrating Polyatomic Molecules, Journal of Chemical Physics, vol. 14, no. 1, Jan. 1946, pp. 32-34.

Peterson, H. A., and C. Concordia, Analyzers for Use in Engineering and Scientific Problems, General Electric Review, vol. 48, no. 9, Sept. 1945, pp. 29-37.

MACHINES FOR SOLVING
ALGEBRAIC EQUATIONS

Another branch of the analogue calculating machine is a type of machine that will solve various kinds of algebraic equations ([see Supplement 2]). A list of some articles follows. The article by Mallock describes a machine for solving up to 10 linear simultaneous equations in 10 unknowns, and the article by Wilbur, a machine for solving up to 9.

Dietzold, Robert L., The Isograph—A Mechanical Root-Finder, Bell Laboratories Record, vol. 16, no. 4, Dec. 1937, pp. 130-134.

Duncan, W. J., Some Devices for the Solution of Large Sets of Simultaneous Linear Equations, London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, vol. 35, series 7, 1944, pp. 660-670.

Frame, J. Sutherland, Machines for Solving Algebraic Equations, Mathematical Tables and Other Aids to Computation, vol. 1, no. 9, Jan. 1945, pp. 337-353.

Hart, H. C., and Irven Travis, Mechanical Solution of Algebraic Equations, Journal of the Franklin Institute, vol. 225, Jan. 1938, pp. 63-72.

Herr, D. L., and R. S. Graham, An Electrical Algebraic Equation Solver, Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 9, Oct. 1938, pp. 310-315.

Mallock, R. R. M., An Electrical Calculating Machine, Proceedings of the Royal Society, series A, vol. 140, 1933, pp. 457-483.

Mercner, R. O., The Mechanism of the Isograph, Bell Laboratories Record, vol. 16, no. 4, Dec. 1937, pp. 135-140.

Stibitz, George R., Electric Root-finder, Mathematical Tables and Other Aids to Computation, vol. 3, no. 24, Oct. 1948, pp. 328-329.

Wilbur, J. B., The Mechanical Solution of Simultaneous Equations, Journal of the Franklin Institute, vol. 222, Dec. 1936, pp. 715-724.

ANALOGUE MACHINES—
MISCELLANEOUS

Some articles referring to various other kinds of analogue machines and their applications are here listed together:

Bush, V., F. D. Gage, and R. R. Stewart, A Continuous Integraph, Journal of the Franklin Institute, vol. 203, 1927, pp. 63-84.

Gray, T. S., A Photo-Electric Integraph, Journal of the Franklin Institute, vol. 212, 1931, pp. 77-102.

Hazen, H. L., G. S. Brown, and W. R. Hedeman, The Cinema Integraph: A Machine for Evaluating a Parametric Product Integral (two parts and appendix), Journal of the Franklin Institute, vol. 230, July 1940, pp. 19-44, and Aug. 1940, pp. 183-205.

McCann, G. D., and H. E. Criner, Mechanical Problems Solved Electrically, Westinghouse Engineer, vol. 6, no. 2, March 1946, pp. 49-56.

Myers, D. M., An Integraph for the Solution of Differential Equations of the Second-Order, Journal of Scientific Instruments, vol. 16, 1939, pp. 209-222.

Pekeris, C. L., and W. T. White, Differentiation with the Cinema Integraph, Journal of the Franklin Institute, vol. 234, July 1942, pp. 17-29.

Smith, C. E., and E. L. Gove, An Electromechanical Calculator for Directional-Antenna Patterns, Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, vol. 62, 1943, pp. 78-82.

Yavne, R. O., High Accuracy Contour Cams, Product Engineering, vol. 19, part 2, Aug. 1948, 3 pp.

Anonymous, Electrical Gun Director Demonstrated, Bell Laboratories Record, vol. 22, no. 4, Dec. 1943, pp. 157-167.

Anonymous, Development of the Electric Director, Bell Laboratories Record, vol. 22, no. 5, Jan. 1944, pp. 225-230.

Anonymous, Old Field Fortune Teller: Electronic Oil Pool Analyzer, Popular Mechanics, vol. 86, Sept. 1946, p. 154.

HARVARD IBM AUTOMATIC
SEQUENCE-CONTROLLED CALCULATOR

The basic scientific description of this machine as of September 1, 1945, is contained in:

Aiken, Howard H., and Staff of the Computation Laboratory, A Manual of Operation for the Automatic Sequence-Controlled Calculator, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1946, 561 pp.

The machine has changed rather a good deal since Sept. 1, 1945. Some circuits have been removed. Other circuits have been added. The capacity of the machine to do problems has been greatly increased. The Computation Laboratory at Harvard University is cordial towards scientific inquiries, and some unpublished, mimeographed information is available at the laboratory regarding the details of these changes.

Some shorter scientific and technical descriptions of the machine are contained in:

Aiken, Howard H., and Grace M. Hopper, The Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (3 parts), Electrical Engineering, vol. 65, nos. 8, 9, and 10, Aug. to Nov. 1946, p. 384 ... (21 pp.).

Bloch, Richard M., Mark I Calculator, Proceedings of a Symposium on Large-Scale Digital Calculating Machinery, Harvard University Press, 1948, pp. 23-30.

Harrison, Joseph O., Jr., The Preparation of Problems for the Mark I Calculator, Proceedings of a Symposium on Large-Scale Digital Calculating Machinery, Harvard University Press, 1948, pp. 208-210.

International Business Machines Corporation, IBM Automatic Sequence-Controlled Calculator, Endicott, N. Y.: International Business Machines Corporation, 1945, 6 pp.

Some of the less technical articles regarding the machine are:

Genet, N., Got a Problem? Harvard’s Amazing New Mathematical Robot, Scholastic, vol. 45, Sept. 18, 1944, p. 35.

Torrey, V., Robot Mathematician Knows All the Answers, Popular Science, vol. 145, Oct. 1944, pp. 86-89....

Anonymous, Giant New Calculator, Science News Letter, vol. 46, Aug. 12, 1944, p. 111.

Anonymous, Mathematical Robot Presented to Harvard, Time, vol. 44, Aug. 14, 1944, p. 72.

Anonymous, World’s Greatest Machine for Automatic Calculation, Science News Letter, vol. 46, Aug. 19, 1944, p. 123.

Anonymous, Superbrain, Nation’s Business, vol. 32, Sept. 1944, p. 8.

Anonymous, Robot Works Problems Never Before Solved, Popular Mechanics, vol. 82, Oct. 1944, p. 13.

ENIAC, THE ELECTRONIC NUMERIC
INTEGRATOR AND CALCULATOR

There is as yet no full-scale, published scientific account of the Eniac. At the Ballistic Research Laboratories, Aberdeen, Md., where the machine now is, there are a few copies of some long mimeographed reports on the machine and the way it works. These were prepared by H. H. Goldstine and others when at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering, as a part of the contract under which the machine was constructed for the U. S. Government. It is possible that these reports might be consulted on request by serious students.

Some scientific descriptions of the machine and its properties are:

Burks, Arthur W., Electronic Computing Circuits of the ENIAC, Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers, vol. 35, no. 8, Aug. 1947, pp. 756-767.

Clippinger, R. F., A Logical Coding System Applied to the Eniac, B. R. L. Report No. 673, Aberdeen, Md.: Ballistic Research Laboratories, Sept. 29, 1948, 41 pp.

Eckert, J. Presper, Jr., John W. Mauchly, Herman H. Goldstine, and J. G. Brainerd, Description of the ENIAC and Comments on Electronic Digital Computing Machines, Applied Mathematics Panel Report 171.2R, Washington, D. C.: National Defense Research Committee, Nov. 1945, 78 pp.

Goldstine, Herman H., and Adele Goldstine, The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), Mathematical Tables and Other Aids to Computation, vol. 2, no. 15, July 1946, pp. 97-110.

Hartree, D. R., The ENIAC, an Electronic Computing Machine, Nature, vol. 158, Oct. 12, 1946, pp. 500-506.

Hartree, D. R., Calculating Machines: Recent and Prospective Developments and Their Impact on Mathematical Physics, Cambridge, England: The University Press, 1947, 40 pp. (Pages 14 to 27 are devoted to the Eniac.)

Tabor, Lewis P., Brief Description and Operating Characteristics of the ENIAC, Proceedings of a Symposium on Large-Scale Digital Calculating Machinery, Harvard University Press, 1948, pp. 31-39.

Some of the less technical articles on Eniac are:

Rose, A., Lightning Strikes Mathematics: ENIAC, Popular Science, vol. 148, Apr. 1946, pp. 83-86.

Anonymous, Robot Calculator: ENIAC, All Electronic Device, Business Week, Feb. 16, 1946, p. 50 ...

Anonymous, Answers by ENY: Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, ENIAC, Newsweek, vol. 27, Feb. 18, 1946, p. 76.

Anonymous, Adds in ¹/₅₀₀₀ Second: Electronic Computing Machine at the University of Pennsylvania, Science News Letter, vol. 49, Feb. 23, 1946, p. 113 ...

Anonymous, ENIAC: at the University of Pennsylvania, Time, vol. 47, Feb. 25, 1946, p. 90.

Anonymous, It Thinks with Electrons; the ENIAC, Popular Mechanics, vol. 85, June 1946, p. 139.

Anonymous, Electronic Calculator: ENIAC, Scientific American, vol. 174, June 1946, p. 248.