Re: [OM] OT: Ancient Computers

[John Hudson]

On 1/10/2016 8:25 PM, Moose wrote:
> On 1/9/2016 1:08 PM, Chris Trask wrote:
> >       No, I'm not going to bring up WinXP, Win98, or Win95.
> Thanks goodness!!! ;-) Of course, I still use XP, but only the virtual
> version within Win7 Pro. And only for an important app that doesn't work
> under a 64 bit OS.
>
> > ... Early in the movie you're treated to a view of a working
> > "differential analyzer", a mechanical computer which was first
> > described in 1876 but not realised until the early 20th century:
> >
> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_analyser
> >
> > http://museum.mit.edu/150/22
> >
> >       These were even built by Meccano hobbyists with Meccano parts
> > prior to WWII, some used for serious research.  All of this was prior
> > to the advent of ENIAC.
> I have no idea how close the "Bombe", Alan Turing's Enigma code breaker,
> is to the original,
There is considerable coverage in Andrew Hodges' "Alan Turing: The 
Enigma", first copyrighted by Hodges in 1983 and subsequently published 
by Vantage Books in 2014. Dr Hodges is a professor of mathematics at Oxford.
jh








 in "The Imitation Game".
> <http://www.cliomuse.com/the-enigma-machine--four-movies-about-the-enigma-machine.html>
> But it's a wonderful recreation of a mechanical computing machine and
> does look a lot like the original.
> <https://www.google.com/search?q=enigma+bombe&tbm=isch&imgil=kXOU28DRJU3hNM%253A%253Ba-YmMui544NH7M%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fen.wikipedia.org%25252Fwiki%25252FBombe&source=iu&pf=m&fir=kXOU28DRJU3hNM%253A%252Ca-YmMui544NH7M%252C_&biw=1655&bih=1128&usg=__fqJZcHV7_XdExOfOVTTIHXgBpMc%3D&ved=0ahUKEwjG7J_bvqDKAhUJmZQKHZDVDp4QyjcIRQ&ei=jvWSVsbtJ4my0gSQq7vwCQ#imgrc=J8w7bT1huGOYoM%3A&usg=__fqJZcHV7_XdExOfOVTTIHXgBpMc%3D>
>
>
> Not a computer, in the sense of a programmable machine such as Turing
> conceived of more generally and as we understand it today.
>
> Bits of Moose
--
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/