The Analogue Alternative: The Electronic Analogue Computer in Britain and the USA, 1930-1975

by Small,James S.

• ISBN13: 9780415271196
• ISBN10: 0415271193
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-11-16
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

From the late 1940's to the 1970's, analogue technology was seen as a genuine alternative to the digital computer, and the two competing approaches ran parallel with each other.The Analogue Alternativedescribes and analyzes the development, commercialization and ultimate decline of the electronic analogue computer in the USA and Britain.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	ix
List of Tables	xi
Acknowledgements	xiii
Introduction	1	(28)
Analogue computing devices in the 19th and early 20th centuries	29	(34)
The origins, form and function of electronic analogue devices and computers 1937-1950	63	(22)
Electronic analogue computer development, 1945-1955: Military programmes, aeronautics and electronics	85	(34)
Commercialisation, hybridisation and competition: the electronic and hybrid computer industry in the USA, 1945-1975	119	(60)
The origins, commercialisation and decline of electronic analogue and hybrid computing in Britian, 1945-1975	179	(46)
Electronic analogue computers and engineering culture	225	(20)
Negotiating a place for electronic analogue computers: the analogue versus digital debate	245	(26)
Conclusion	271	(8)
Bibliography	279	(29)
List of Interviews	308	(1)
Index	309