The World's Largest Computer in 1951

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the ENIAC, the world's first general-purpose electronic computer, which stood 10 feet tall, occupied 1,000 square feet, and weighed approximately 30 tons. It utilized over 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors, 6,000 switches, and 18,000 vacuum tubes, consuming 150 kilowatts of power. Additionally, the conversation shifts to the Russian Ekranoplan, a Ground Effect Vehicle developed by Rostislav Alekseev, which could travel over 400 km/h and weighed 540 tons fully loaded. The Ekranoplan was designed for military transport and could carry over 100 tonnes of cargo.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of electronic components such as resistors and capacitors
  • Familiarity with the concept of Ground Effect Vehicles
  • Knowledge of military transport technologies
  • Basic historical context of computing technology development
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the technical specifications and historical significance of the ENIAC
  • Explore the design and operational principles of Ground Effect Vehicles
  • Investigate the military applications of the Ekranoplan
  • Learn about the evolution of computing technology post-ENIAC
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for historians, technology enthusiasts, and engineers interested in the evolution of computing and transport technologies, particularly those focused on military applications and early electronic devices.

  • #991
Brewnog and Gokul both incorrect. It is something you both have already heard of, I'm sure, but didn't know this detail.
 
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  • #992
Nope, I'm not going to get it without another hint!
 
  • #993
Me neither...though I'm certain there was something that sat in a pool of mercury in the Bay Area.
 
  • #994
The point of the complex mercury bearing was to obviate the fact of how sensitive the device was to any vibration.
 
  • #995
zooby said:
Brewnog and Gokul both incorrect. It is something you both have already heard of, I'm sure, but didn't know this detail.

Ohh, but look!


The 200 tonne Dunn Solar Telescope at Sacramento Peak is suspended from a container holding ten tons of mercury, which acts as a bearing. This allows the telescope to be easily rotated during research.

Do I win?
 
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  • #996
Michelson-Morley interferometer...?

Daniel.
 
  • #997
Hmmmmmmm...good research, but does this telescope fit the rest of the description: "...mounted on a block of concrete that floated in a cylindrical, brick enclosed trough of mercury"?

Here's another clue: this was a measuring apparatus.
 
  • #998
dextercioby said:
Michelson-Morley interferometer...?

Daniel.
Whooops! We have a winner!

Your turn.
 
  • #999
dextercioby said:
Michelson-Morley interferometer...?

Daniel.


Gah, and I'd have got that if I'd thought the block was concrete instead of marble! Honest!
 
  • #1,000
I'm a theorist,i can't possibly recollect too many experiments.So i'll ask an embarassingly simple question.You can google it,if u don't know the answer.

"Revolutionized chemistry".An object.And who's responsible for "revolutioning chemistry"?

Daniel.
 
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  • #1,001
dextercioby said:
"Revolutionized chemistry".And who's responsible for "revolutioning chemistry"?

Dmitri Mendeleev?
 
  • #1,003
Humphrey Davy?
 
  • #1,004
Nope.Yes,it's fair to ask the year,too.Approximately,of course.

Daniel.
 
  • #1,005
dextercioby said:
Nope.Yes,it's fair to ask the year,too.Approximately,of course.
No it's not. All we can do is guess, answer, or ask for another clue.

Was it Faraday?
 
  • #1,006
I'm really sorry to say,but Faraday was not a chemist.

Clue.There's no chemical laboratory in the world without this thing.

Daniel.
 
  • #1,007
Bunsen and his burner
 
  • #1,008
Mr Bunsen?

Edit: Aww, pipped to the post. (Assuming that's the right answer!)
 
  • #1,009
Go ahead Brewnog, I can't stick around right now anyway.
 
  • #1,010
Good try.Not what i had in mind.It can't get any more elemenatry than that.

The difficult,possibly googling part would be to come up with a name and an approximate year.

Daniel.
 
  • #1,011
1924, the invention of Pyrex? :smile:
 
  • #1,012
It's not a chemical substance,but an object,INSTRUMENT,if u prefer.

No more clues.

Daniel.
 
  • #1,013
Buchner filter?
Leiblich condenser?
 
  • #1,014
The only relevant hint I've given is "revolutionized chemistry".

Daniel.
 
  • #1,015
dextercioby said:
I'm really sorry to say,but Faraday was not a chemist.
Michael Faraday's Contributions to Electricity and Chemistry
Address:http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/scientst/faraday.html
 
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  • #1,016
He was a physicist.It's like saying Hilbert was a physicist,just because Hilbert spaces are crucial in physics and the Hilbert action for the gravitational field is essential in GR.

Electrolysis came after "chemistry was revolutionized".

Need i say that this is not a technical question,so it can be answered by virtually anyone...?

Daniel.
 
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  • #1,017
The Centrifuge, invented by Benjamin Robins in the 18th century?

Only chem-pun I can think of around "revolutionized"...
 
  • #1,018
dextercioby said:
He was a physicist.It's like saying Hilbert was a physicist,just because Hilbert spaces are crucial in physics and the Hilbert action for the gravitational field is essential in GR.

Electrolysis came after "chemistry was revolutionized".

Daniel.
Excluding Faraday as the correct answer on the basis he wasn't a chemist, rather than because it isn't the answer your looking for, is snooty and gratitously picayune, since electrochemistry did revolutionise chemistry.
 
  • #1,019
The Periodic Table of Elements, Dmitri Ivancritch Mendeléeff, 1864?? Edit: Oops, already guessed. :redface:
 
  • #1,020
Nope,i excluded Faraday,simply because it was not a revolution. in the sense putting a *************** in a chemistry lab was.:wink:

Mendeleev's first published Table of Elements was in 1869.:wink:

Daniel.
 

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