Watch an Amazing Mechanical Computer From 1948

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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May 9, 2000
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Many computer users today have no idea of the history associated with the early primitive computer days, so every once and awhile they have to be reminded of the days of a simpler lifestyle for most back in the late 40’s except for the computer programmers, that is. The first thing I thought seeing the computer set up of was an automated Foosball tournament. :D Times sure have changed.
 
Man, I wish they showed what they actually were solving, because just about everything they said are things that are solved by hand in a first year physics course.
 
I'm guessing because of the advances in computational speed as well as new teaching techniques that 1st year physics college students of today would be 2 to 3 years ahead of where those students were back then.
 
Pretty cool as far as the evolution of computers go, but I just wonder about all the people and time involved in setting up 'the mechanical brain' and getting it calibrated; they maybe the labor force could have just, well, done all the stuff the differential analyzer did.

I also loved the old Loony Tunes sound of the video. ;)
 
Such primitive technology :p

MYQoibj.jpg
 
Always cool to see stuff like this.

On another note. College chicks were so much hotter then.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Always cool to see stuff like this.

On another note. College chicks were so much hotter then.
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"Campus life here has many obvious attractions" *shot of two ladies leaning over a guy's desk all happy happy*
"This is no country club college" *shot of eight ladies and four guys*
 
I knew it was going to be that dude doing the voice over. I think he did just about every documentary style film reel made during that time. :)
 
@ the folks who think they should just have solved it all longhand

You obviously have never had to do real engineering without calculators.

My father was involved in road design for a federal agency, they would get their calcs prepped on punch tape and ferry that down to the 6th floor of the SF federal building for their appointed time slot. The computer occupied the entire floor. It would run their tape and then they would spend months interpreting the results.
 
SixFootDuo said:
I'm guessing because of the advances in computational speed as well as new teaching techniques that 1st year physics college students of today would be 2 to 3 years ahead of where those students were back then.
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Yeah but it's the 1950s not the 1650s. Integration, differential equations, Newton's laws of motion... not exactly invented recently.
 
Am i the only one who thought at the end of the video when they show the V2 rocket. shit there goes London......
 
jojo69 said:
@ the folks who think they should just have solved it all longhand

You obviously have never had to do real engineering without calculators.

My father was involved in road design for a federal agency, they would get their calcs prepped on punch tape and ferry that down to the 6th floor of the SF federal building for their appointed time slot. The computer occupied the entire floor. It would run their tape and then they would spend months interpreting the results.
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Just because they needed to waste time on it doesn't mean all engineers are newbs. Look at all those cathedrals in Europe, and the pyramids, and all the other hundreds of awesome structures created without wasting months & taxpayers money playing with their new toy.
 
ok, design a modern suspension bridge on paper and report back
 
skinnydaddy said:
Am i the only one who thought at the end of the video when they show the V2 rocket. shit there goes London......
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Captured V2 at White Sands, New Mexico blowing up some rattlesnakes. spent several years in the area, we had an old V2 left over from those days on display at Aberdeen proving ground Maryland. things are impressive considering when they were made. Hell, The Germans made better rockets in the 40's using mostly mechanical systems than the Iranian s can make using computers.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Yeah but it's the 1950s not the 1650s. Integration, differential equations, Newton's laws of motion... not exactly invented recently.
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Not exactly there are equations with no explicit integral. In fact some behaviors exist as pure data tables with no good integrable curve fit. So you had to use numerical methods. Try integrating 300 iterations of such a function with a slide rule and suddenly that computer looks freaking high tech.
 
SixFootDuo said:
I'm guessing because of the advances in computational speed as well as new teaching techniques that 1st year physics college students of today would be 2 to 3 years ahead of where those students were back then.
Click to expand...

No, it was tougher back then. All work was done long hand with 5 digit precision with slide rules. The youth of today probably have no idea what I just said.
 
BBA said:
No, it was tougher back then. All work was done long hand with 5 digit precision with slide rules. The youth of today probably have no idea what I just said.
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They had long hands and slides rule. Did I get that right?
 
BBA said:
No, it was tougher back then. All work was done long hand with 5 digit precision with slide rules. The youth of today probably have no idea what I just said.
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They still teach math, at least up to college statistics classes using long hand..at least that's been my experience with a few different teachers in my little community college. I had to google slide rules to know what they were but once I saw an image of one I knew id seen them before but I've not been in a math class that needed those and im pretty sure they aren't used anymore. Typically only go back to 2-3 digit precision as well...
 
Many of us grew up with mechanical computers. They were called cash registers. These date as far back as 1879 and some are still used today.
 
BBA said:
No, it was tougher back then. All work was done long hand with 5 digit precision with slide rules. The youth of today probably have no idea what I just said.
Click to expand...

I have a couple slide rules and some old calculators (and an abacus). I had a guy show me how to use the slide rule. He still is pretty good at it, too.
 
SixFootDuo said:
I'm guessing because of the advances in computational speed as well as new teaching techniques that 1st year physics college students of today would be 2 to 3 years ahead of where those students were back then.
Click to expand...

I doubt that the average 1st year physics/engineering student today is as well-prepared as one in the fifties. I interview recent science and engineering graduates quite frequently. Computers and teaching techniques have exposed them to a broader variety of material, but most of them have a panic attack if you ask them to solve the simplest problem without googling.

On the other hand, the internet does allow the seriously curious ones (not just interested in getting the right answer fast) to become solidly self-educated.

BTW (in case it wasn't obvious), the UCLA mechanical computer was an analog computer, not a digital computer.

There is a great textbook "Mechanisms and dynamic of machinery" by Mabie and Ockvirk that has a chapter on computing mechanisms like the ones shown in the video. Pdf scans are out there.
 
staticlag said:
Just because they needed to waste time on it doesn't mean all engineers are newbs. Look at all those cathedrals in Europe, and the pyramids, and all the other hundreds of awesome structures created without wasting months & taxpayers money playing with their new toy.
Click to expand...

You answered your own question.

This machine was developed longhand. Without spending time and brains on it and things like it, we would never get modern computers
 
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