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Computation exhibit
NOTES FROM THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE MUSEUM A. C. CARLTON, DIRECTOR COMPUTATION EXHIBIT
Visitors who have become accustomed to the collection of machines in the Prime Movers Section will miss the familiar wheels going around. This area has been cleared in order to provide space for the installation of the U N I V A C , a large electronic computer. This does not mean t h a t we shall be deprived of all our exhibits illustrating the early stages of power development. A group of exhibits has been retained which will present a thumb-nail sketch of the progress from animal power through water wheels, the recriprocating steam engine, to steam turbines. These will be displayed in a corridor leading from the Lounge. Other exhibits have been placed in storage pending the time when more display space can be made available for a better integrated story of the prime movers. " T o d a y is not yesterday," wrote Carlyle, "We ourselves change. How then can our works and thoughts, if they are always to be the fittest, continue always the same ? Change, indeed, is painful, yet ever needful; and if m e m o r y have its force and worth, so also has hope." In parting with some old associations we have the consolation of knowing they will be replaced by an installation representative of the future. Some of our visitors will recall the astonishment which greeted the operation of the first U N I V A C when it was shown in the Engineering Progress exhibition in April, 1947. The device has grown since the initial one was built, and it is fair to say visitors will be entranced by witnessing the performance of this new electronic c o m p u t e r capable of solving problems at breathless speed t h a t would have involved the e m p l o y m e n t of minds and hands of m a n y mathematicians over the period of several months. The device is still too young for its manifold potentialities to be explored, but without any doubt it has a vast future. Although the computer will have a place in the operations of the Institute Laboratories' activities, it will, nevertheless, be so arranged that M u s e u m visitors will be able to witness it at work and have its operation explained. But, first, there will be an exhibit area in which the whole history and mechanics of the science of computation will be illustrated. Our word "calculate" is derived from the Latin calculi, the pebbles used in counting, so our exhibits will begin with the pebbles used in ancient days to perform simple computations. The abacus, familiar to most of us from kindergarten days, is still used as a c o m p u t i n g device in the Orient. In the hands of an expert it produces results t h a t con565
566
THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE
[J. F. I.
found an occidental laboriously figuring with pencil and paper. It is probably the first of all calculating machines. After Blaise Pascal invented the first mechanical calculating machine, a n u m b e r of ingenious men improved upon it, so t h a t t o d a y we have excellent cash registers in use to show the efforts at i m p r o v e m e n t were not unavailing. But the developments did not all involve whirring wheels. Mathematicians evolved other devices, such as Napier's "bones" and the slide rule. These and other fundamental steps in computation, will be shown dynamically and graphically in this series of exhibits designed to serve as an introduction to the new electronic computer. A n o t h e r section of the exhibits will show how the U N I V A C works in detail, and a small theatre, where talks will be given on the subject of c o m p u t a t i o n and computers, will permit the viewing of motion pictures. Finally, a viewing platform will enable visitors to gather an impression of the high speed with which the electronic device acts, the enormous a m o u n t s of information it can assimilate, and the accuracy of its results. As the intricacies of the giant c o m p u t e r m a y seem incomprehensible to the lay mind, the greatest care is being taken to ensure t h a t everyone will carry away an understanding of its operation and accomplishments. An especially instructed guide will be available. Since the electronic c o m p u t e r will fill an i m p o r t a n t function in the solution of deeply involved scientific and engineering problems it will be a valuable instrument in the expansion of knowledge. But it will also come nearer to the ordinary person in complicated business problems involving numerous calculations, such as the compilation of pay rolls in large concerns. It is hoped to have the exhibit completed in the fall.
Visitors who have become accustomed to the collection of machines in the Prime Movers Section will miss the familiar wheels going around. This area has been cleared in order to provide space for the installation of the U N I V A C , a large electronic computer. This does not mean t h a t we shall be deprived of all our exhibits illustrating the early stages of power development. A group of exhibits has been retained which will present a thumb-nail sketch of the progress from animal power through water wheels, the recriprocating steam engine, to steam turbines. These will be displayed in a corridor leading from the Lounge. Other exhibits have been placed in storage pending the time when more display space can be made available for a better integrated story of the prime movers. " T o d a y is not yesterday," wrote Carlyle, "We ourselves change. How then can our works and thoughts, if they are always to be the fittest, continue always the same ? Change, indeed, is painful, yet ever needful; and if m e m o r y have its force and worth, so also has hope." In parting with some old associations we have the consolation of knowing they will be replaced by an installation representative of the future. Some of our visitors will recall the astonishment which greeted the operation of the first U N I V A C when it was shown in the Engineering Progress exhibition in April, 1947. The device has grown since the initial one was built, and it is fair to say visitors will be entranced by witnessing the performance of this new electronic c o m p u t e r capable of solving problems at breathless speed t h a t would have involved the e m p l o y m e n t of minds and hands of m a n y mathematicians over the period of several months. The device is still too young for its manifold potentialities to be explored, but without any doubt it has a vast future. Although the computer will have a place in the operations of the Institute Laboratories' activities, it will, nevertheless, be so arranged that M u s e u m visitors will be able to witness it at work and have its operation explained. But, first, there will be an exhibit area in which the whole history and mechanics of the science of computation will be illustrated. Our word "calculate" is derived from the Latin calculi, the pebbles used in counting, so our exhibits will begin with the pebbles used in ancient days to perform simple computations. The abacus, familiar to most of us from kindergarten days, is still used as a c o m p u t i n g device in the Orient. In the hands of an expert it produces results t h a t con565
566
THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE
[J. F. I.
found an occidental laboriously figuring with pencil and paper. It is probably the first of all calculating machines. After Blaise Pascal invented the first mechanical calculating machine, a n u m b e r of ingenious men improved upon it, so t h a t t o d a y we have excellent cash registers in use to show the efforts at i m p r o v e m e n t were not unavailing. But the developments did not all involve whirring wheels. Mathematicians evolved other devices, such as Napier's "bones" and the slide rule. These and other fundamental steps in computation, will be shown dynamically and graphically in this series of exhibits designed to serve as an introduction to the new electronic computer. A n o t h e r section of the exhibits will show how the U N I V A C works in detail, and a small theatre, where talks will be given on the subject of c o m p u t a t i o n and computers, will permit the viewing of motion pictures. Finally, a viewing platform will enable visitors to gather an impression of the high speed with which the electronic device acts, the enormous a m o u n t s of information it can assimilate, and the accuracy of its results. As the intricacies of the giant c o m p u t e r m a y seem incomprehensible to the lay mind, the greatest care is being taken to ensure t h a t everyone will carry away an understanding of its operation and accomplishments. An especially instructed guide will be available. Since the electronic c o m p u t e r will fill an i m p o r t a n t function in the solution of deeply involved scientific and engineering problems it will be a valuable instrument in the expansion of knowledge. But it will also come nearer to the ordinary person in complicated business problems involving numerous calculations, such as the compilation of pay rolls in large concerns. It is hoped to have the exhibit completed in the fall.