Re: [math-fun] Non-electronic analogue computers
There's the famous 1949 "MONIAC" ("Money AC"; get it?), which is one of the few computers not influenced by Al Gore, who was but 1 year old at the time. Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson would both have been proud of the MONIAC. "Other [MONIAC] computers went to Harvard Business School", where it presumably educated an entire generation of corporate and political leaders about how macroeconomics and tax policy work. :-) I understand that some members of Congress still think that this is the way computers and the Internet are built -- out of a series of tubes and tanks, leaking/dripping with sarcasm. :-) I'm sure that someone is working on a blockchain model of the economy as we speak. :-) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MONIAC_Computer The MONIAC was approximately 2 m high, 1.2 m wide and almost 1 m deep, and consisted of a series of transparent plastic tanks and pipes which were fastened to a wooden board. Each tank represented some aspect of the UK national economy and the flow of money around the economy was illustrated by coloured water. At the top of the board was a large tank called the treasury. Water (representing money) flowed from the treasury to other tanks representing the various ways in which a country could spend its money. For example, there were tanks for health and education. To increase spending on health care a tap could be opened to drain water from the treasury to the tank which represented health spending. Water then ran further down the model to other tanks, representing other interactions in the economy. Water could be pumped back to the treasury from some of the tanks to represent taxation. Changes in tax rates were modeled by increasing or decreasing pumping speeds. ... The actual flow of the water was automatically controlled through a series of floats, counterweights, electrodes and cords. When the level of water reached a certain level in a tank, pumps and drains would be activated. To their surprise, Phillips and his associate Walter Newlyn found that MONIAC could be calibrated to an accuracy of ±2%. [Perhaps the success of this analogue computer explains the anemic British post-WWII economy?] The first MONIAC was created in his landlady's garage in Croydon at a cost of £400 (equivalent to £13,000 in 2016). Phillips first demonstrated the MONIAC to a number of leading economists at the LSE in 1949. It was very well received and Phillips was soon offered a teaching position at the LSE. At 11:58 AM 1/29/2018, Mike Stay wrote:
Gitton's water clock implemented a counter using tanks and siphons.
This probably isn't what you're looking for, but it's interesting: this recent paper shows how to create a Turing-complete system from mechanical linkages - https://arxiv.org/abs/1801.03534 On Mon, 29 Jan 2018 at 21:06 Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote:
There's the famous 1949 "MONIAC" ("Money AC"; get it?), which is one of the few computers not influenced by Al Gore, who was but 1 year old at the time.
Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson would both have been proud of the MONIAC.
"Other [MONIAC] computers went to Harvard Business School", where it presumably educated an entire generation of corporate and political leaders about how macroeconomics and tax policy work. :-)
I understand that some members of Congress still think that this is the way computers and the Internet are built -- out of a series of tubes and tanks, leaking/dripping with sarcasm. :-)
I'm sure that someone is working on a blockchain model of the economy as we speak. :-)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MONIAC_Computer
The MONIAC was approximately 2 m high, 1.2 m wide and almost 1 m deep, and consisted of a series of transparent plastic tanks and pipes which were fastened to a wooden board. Each tank represented some aspect of the UK national economy and the flow of money around the economy was illustrated by coloured water. At the top of the board was a large tank called the treasury. Water (representing money) flowed from the treasury to other tanks representing the various ways in which a country could spend its money. For example, there were tanks for health and education. To increase spending on health care a tap could be opened to drain water from the treasury to the tank which represented health spending. Water then ran further down the model to other tanks, representing other interactions in the economy. Water could be pumped back to the treasury from some of the tanks to represent taxation. Changes in tax rates were modeled by increasing or decreasing pumping speeds.
...
The actual flow of the water was automatically controlled through a series of floats, counterweights, electrodes and cords. When the level of water reached a certain level in a tank, pumps and drains would be activated. To their surprise, Phillips and his associate Walter Newlyn found that MONIAC could be calibrated to an accuracy of ±2%. [Perhaps the success of this analogue computer explains the anemic British post-WWII economy?]
The first MONIAC was created in his landlady's garage in Croydon at a cost of £400 (equivalent to £13,000 in 2016).
Phillips first demonstrated the MONIAC to a number of leading economists at the LSE in 1949. It was very well received and Phillips was soon offered a teaching position at the LSE.
At 11:58 AM 1/29/2018, Mike Stay wrote:
Gitton's water clock implemented a counter using tanks and siphons.
_______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
Fascinating! WFL On 1/30/18, Christian Lawson-Perfect <christianperfect@gmail.com> wrote:
This probably isn't what you're looking for, but it's interesting: this recent paper shows how to create a Turing-complete system from mechanical linkages - https://arxiv.org/abs/1801.03534
On Mon, 29 Jan 2018 at 21:06 Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote:
There's the famous 1949 "MONIAC" ("Money AC"; get it?), which is one of the few computers not influenced by Al Gore, who was but 1 year old at the time.
Rube Goldberg and Heath Robinson would both have been proud of the MONIAC.
"Other [MONIAC] computers went to Harvard Business School", where it presumably educated an entire generation of corporate and political leaders about how macroeconomics and tax policy work. :-)
I understand that some members of Congress still think that this is the way computers and the Internet are built -- out of a series of tubes and tanks, leaking/dripping with sarcasm. :-)
I'm sure that someone is working on a blockchain model of the economy as we speak. :-)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MONIAC_Computer
The MONIAC was approximately 2 m high, 1.2 m wide and almost 1 m deep, and consisted of a series of transparent plastic tanks and pipes which were fastened to a wooden board. Each tank represented some aspect of the UK national economy and the flow of money around the economy was illustrated by coloured water. At the top of the board was a large tank called the treasury. Water (representing money) flowed from the treasury to other tanks representing the various ways in which a country could spend its money. For example, there were tanks for health and education. To increase spending on health care a tap could be opened to drain water from the treasury to the tank which represented health spending. Water then ran further down the model to other tanks, representing other interactions in the economy. Water could be pumped back to the treasury from some of the tanks to represent taxation. Changes in tax rates were modeled by increasing or decreasing pumping speeds.
...
The actual flow of the water was automatically controlled through a series of floats, counterweights, electrodes and cords. When the level of water reached a certain level in a tank, pumps and drains would be activated. To their surprise, Phillips and his associate Walter Newlyn found that MONIAC could be calibrated to an accuracy of ±2%. [Perhaps the success of this analogue computer explains the anemic British post-WWII economy?]
The first MONIAC was created in his landlady's garage in Croydon at a cost of £400 (equivalent to £13,000 in 2016).
Phillips first demonstrated the MONIAC to a number of leading economists at the LSE in 1949. It was very well received and Phillips was soon offered a teaching position at the LSE.
At 11:58 AM 1/29/2018, Mike Stay wrote:
Gitton's water clock implemented a counter using tanks and siphons.
_______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
_______________________________________________ math-fun mailing list math-fun@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/math-fun
participants (3)
-
Christian Lawson-Perfect -
Fred Lunnon -
Henry Baker