Book Review: How to Build a Working Digital Computer

From: Dave Dameron <ddameron_at_earthlink.net>
Date: Tue Mar 2 23:44:50 1999

Hi Doug and all,
At 09:55 PM 3/2/99 -0500, Doug wrote:
>On Tue, 2 Mar 1999, Dave Dameron wrote:
>
>> It was me for one who mentioned it before.
>
>Oh, yeah. Did you tell me about this at TRW?
I could have. I think I mentioned it about last July when Tony mentioned
the book
Automatic Digital Computers, by M.V. Wilkes. I am looking for any other books
mentioned then and up to now. My list is getting longer.
>
>> The drum was a metal can with contacts to 20 or so flashlight lamps.
>> Segments of the drum were covered up with tape so various lamps were lit
>> as one rotated the drum. The lamps were instructions for you to switch
>> the various knife switches, you rotated the drum to see the steps to
>> take.
>
>Ah, that must be what Derek meant. I didn't really look at the drum
>section, so I assumed it was magnetic.
>
>Shortly after reading this book, I went to pick up my mail. As fate would
>have it, a friend from NY sent me a computer brochure. It was for an
>educational computer from 1969. I swear it has the same attributes as the
>computer described in this book, but in a much more polished form. I'll
>scan a pic this week. It's really an amazing coincidence: same drum, same
>simulated core, simular looking ALU, ....

Please scan it. If it could be automated with relays as the "automatic"
switches,
it must look similar to Simon, as you mentioned.
>
-Dave
Received on Tue Mar 02 1999 - 23:44:50 GMT