The World's Largest Computer in 1951

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around historical and technical aspects of significant machines and vehicles, including the ENIAC computer and the Russian Ekranoplan. Participants engage in a quiz-like format, posing questions and providing hints about various inventions, their specifications, and historical context.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes the ENIAC, detailing its size, weight, components, and power consumption, while noting its limited processing power compared to modern devices.
  • Another participant identifies the ENIAC as the machine described in the previous post.
  • Participants discuss a large vehicle that weighs 540 tons, can travel over land and water, and is hinted to be built in Russia, leading to speculation about its identity.
  • Some participants propose that the vehicle in question is the Russian Ekranoplan, explaining its design and operational principles related to ground effect.
  • There is a discussion about a vehicle that achieved over 188 miles per gallon, with participants speculating on its type and historical significance, including a mention of a Harley Davidson motorcycle from 1908.
  • One participant describes a crude device involving a wooden stand, a funnel, acid, and copper wire, prompting further questions about its purpose.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the identity of some machines, particularly the vehicle that achieved high fuel efficiency, as various guesses and clarifications are made. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the specifics of some inventions and their historical context.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about the specifications and classifications of the vehicles discussed, particularly regarding the Ekranoplan's operational capabilities and the fuel efficiency claims of the motorcycle.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in the history of computing, engineering innovations, and the evolution of vehicle technology may find this discussion engaging.

  • #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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