"Basics of Analog Computers" book

From: Don Maslin <donm_at_cts.com>
Date: Tue Nov 7 23:25:21 2000

On Tue, 7 Nov 2000, Mark Green wrote:

> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Mark Green" <mark_at_cs.ualberta.ca>
> > To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
> > Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2000 2:20 PM
> > Subject: Re: "Basics of Analog Computers" book
> > >
> > > The last time I looked tubes were analogue devices. One of their
> > > main uses is as amplifiers, which is definitely an analogue function.
> > > If I remember correctly, one of the main problems with early tube
> > > computers (1940s and 1950s), was actually getting the tubes to behave
> > > like digital devices.
> > >
> >
> > Point taken on the nature of tubes, but they were primarily used in
> > computers as bipolar devices, weren't they? The fact that a computer
> > contains analogue devices doesn't make it an analogue computer.
> >
>
> Depends. In the 1940s and 1950s they were used in both analogue
> and digital computers. After the early 1960s, tubes were replaced
> by transistors in digital computers (at least in North America), but
> they were still used in analogue computers. In terms of pure numbers,
> analogue computers greatly out numbered digital computers until some
> point in the 1960s. In the simulation area, digital computers didn't
> become cost effective for many applications until around 1970, particularly
> those requiring real-time. So, for early computers the use of tubes
> wasn't a good indication of whether the computer was analogue or
> digital.

In addition, for real time simulation digital machines of that
generation were wholly (too strong?) inadewuate to the task. In
particular, I recall reading about a '60ish project by one of Britain's
Formula One makers to use a computer to control a F1-machine driving
around an actual circuit in lieu of the driver. As I recall the story,
it did not make it beyond the second turn. However, an analogue
computer handled the task quite well. Apocryphal? ???

                                                 - don

Sounds like something Chapman might have done. Or BRM?

> --
> Dr. Mark Green mark_at_cs.ualberta.ca
> McCalla Professor (780) 492-4584
> Department of Computing Science (780) 492-1071 (FAX)
> University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H1, Canada
>
Received on Tue Nov 07 2000 - 23:25:21 GMT