Differential
Analyzer at the Vintage Computer Festival
The Vintage Computer Festival held its 7.0 meeting at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California on November 6/72004. I entered the differential analyzer in the "Re-creation, Emulation or Contemporary Enhancement" class where it received first place. It was also awarded "Best technology: Analog" and "Best Technology: Non-electronic". Visitors to the show were able to vote for their favorite exhibit, and the differential analyzer also won the "People's Choice Award".
Here is a movie of the machine operating at the show (courtesy of Bill Selmeier):
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Display board showing pictures of the prototype, principles of operation, and a setup diagram for the equation being run for demonstration. |
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The author explaining the principles of
operation to two of the museum staff before the show opened to the
public. |
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A view showing most of the machine.
The input table is obscured behind the display board. In the
background, the adjacent exhibit is a large DEC PDP-11 system from 1972
(some 40 years after Bush built the first differential analyzer)
running a very early version of UNIX. The Meccano visible at the
extreme left edge is the corner of my Difference Engine exhibit. |
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Close scrutiny from a couple of visitors
while the author explains operation of the input table. |
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The author at the input table while visitors look on. |
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Although too young to understand what the
machine does, children were captivated by the vast number of moving
parts. |
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Explaining how the integrators operate. |
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A view from the operator's seat at the
input table. |
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Some more young guests captivated by the
decimal revolution counters. The author operating the input table. |
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Another group getting to grips with how
mechanical integrators operate! |
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© 2004 Tim Robinson |