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The analogue computer as a scientific instrument
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Care, Charles (2005) The analogue computer as a scientific instrument. University of Warwick. Department of Computer Science. (Computer Science Research Report). (Unpublished)
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Abstract
The users of analogue computing employed techniques that have important similarities to the ways scientific instruments have been used historically. Analogue computing was for many years an alternative to digital computing, and historians often frame the emergence of analogue computing as a development from various mathematical instruments. These instruments employed analogies to create artefacts that embodied some aspect of theory. Ever since the phrase 'analogue computing' was first used in the 1940s, a central example of analogue technology has been the planimeter, a nineteenth century scientific instrument for area calculation. The planimeter mechanism developed from that of the single instrument to become a component of much larger and more complex instruments designed by Lord Kelvin in the 1870s and Vannevar Bush in the 1920s. Later definitions of computing would refer to algorithms and numerical calculation, but for Bush emphasis was placed on the cognitive support provided by the machine. He understood his 'differential analyser' to be an instrument that provided a 'suggestive auxiliary to precise reasoning' and under the label 'instrumental analysis', classified all apparatus that 'aid[ed] the mind' of the mathematician. Rather than placing emphasis on automation, Aan analogue computer provided an environment where the human investigator was far more involved in the computation process. This paper will argue that the analogue computer can usefully be considered as a scientific instrument. The role of the analogue computer as a scientific instrument will be investigated from the perspective of the users' techniques and applications. The study will particularly focus on the users' approach to the planimeter, the differential analyser and the electronic analogue computer.
Item Type: | Report | ||||
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Subjects: | Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA76 Electronic computers. Computer science. Computer software | ||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Computer Science | ||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Analog computers, Planimeters, Scientific apparatus and instruments | ||||
Series Name: | Computer Science Research Report | ||||
Publisher: | University of Warwick. Department of Computer Science | ||||
Official Date: | 2005 | ||||
Dates: |
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Number: | Number 420 | ||||
Number of Pages: | 6 | ||||
DOI: | CS-RR-420 | ||||
Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Department of Computer Science | ||||
Status: | Not Peer Reviewed | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Funder: | University of Warwick. Department of Computer Science |
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