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 (Unpublished)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
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA76 Electronic computers. Computer science. Computer software
Divisions:	Faculty of 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:	Date Event 2005 Completion
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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