The World's Largest Computer in 1951

[zoobyshoe]

This is not the guy that came up with DDT, is it ? I think not...and I'm off.

No, not the DDT guy.

 

[brewnog]

During the conflict, he sometimes resorted to using old window panes.

Some pioneer of photography perhaps?

 

[Danger]

Some pioneer of photography perhaps?

That certainly makes sense. Photos were done on glass plates. That 'Brownie' guy that the Kodak/Brownie camera was named for? Or George Eastman? Maybe even earlier than that.

 

[brewnog]

That certainly makes sense. Photos were done on glass plates. That 'Brownie' guy that the Kodak/Brownie camera was named for? Or George Eastman? Maybe even earlier than that.

I like the idea of the de Guerre guy, but only because his name is a type of conflict.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I like the idea of the de Guerre guy, but only because his name is a type of conflict.

I know who you mean. Not him.

 

[Danger]

I know who you mean. Not him.

Do I take this to mean that the photography part is right, and we just need a name?

 

[zoobyshoe]

Do I take this to mean that the photography part is right, and we just need a name?

You can take it to mean it isn't that guy. That is all.

 

[brewnog]

Talbot? Morse?

I think I need another clue.

 

[brewnog]

Ooh, Archer!

 

[zoobyshoe]

During the conflict, he sometimes resorted to using old window panes scavenged from destroyed houses.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Talbot? Morse?

Ooh, Archer!

None of these.

 

[Danger]

During the conflict, he sometimes resorted to using old window panes scavenged from destroyed houses.

I'll go back to my original train of thought then, but I don't think it's right. All that comes to mind is a war-time doctor who might have used glass for scalpels.

 

[zoobyshoe]

"The conflict" was none other than "The War Of Northern Agression."

 

[Danger]

"The conflict" was none other than "The War Of Northern Agression."

I'm out then. I've never heard that term. To me, it could mean your Civil War, or the Korean conflict, Viet Nam... anything with north and south sides.

 

[brewnog]

I'm out too, but you knew that.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I can't find anything.

 

[zoobyshoe]

"I wish that I was in the land of cotton
Old times there, are not forgotten,
Look away...
Look away...
Look away...
*****land!

 

[Danger]

"I wish that I was in the land of cotton
Old times there, are not forgotten,
Look away...
Look away...
Look away...
*****land!

Right! Dixie Cups! I forgot that they used to be made out of glass.

 

[Moonbear]

So far it has something to do with the Civil War or the American South (The War of Northern Aggression I've now learned is what the Southerners call the Civil War...I never knew that before having always lived north of the Mason Dixon line). I can't find anything about scavenging of window panes other than in the general sense that everything was scavenged.

 

[Danger]

So far it has something to do with the Civil War

Well, my curiosity must wait. Bed time. See you tomorrow.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Mathew B. Brady?

 

[zoobyshoe]

Mathew B. Brady?

BINGO!

Mathew Brady, the most famous photographic chronicler of the Civil War. 90% of Civil War pictures you have seen were by Brady.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

What was the Dixieland clue? Or was this just in reference to the Civil War?

 

[zoobyshoe]

What was the Dixieland clue? Or was this just in reference to the Civil War?

Yeah, that was because no one seemed to have heard of "The War of Northern Agression". Just saying "Civil War" would have been too easy.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

It is estimated that over 1400 anti-aircraft rounds were fired in this little known California event. After all, there was a war on!

 

[zoobyshoe]

It is estimated that over 1400 anti-aircraft rounds were fired in this little known California event. After all, there was a war on!

I believe you are referring to what might be called "The Battle of Los Angeles" when an air raid by the Japanese on that city was bravely repelled, despite the absense of any actual Japanese planes.

California Military History: California and World War II
Address:http://www.militarymuseum.org/HistoryWWII.html

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Correct!

Edit: This is an actual photo of the object that wasn't there.

http://brumac.8k.com/BATTLEOFLA/BattleofLAFig1.jpg
http://brumac.8k.com/BATTLEOFLA/BattleofLA.html

 

[zoobyshoe]

"...mounted on a block of concrete that floated in a cylindrical, brick-enclosed trough of mercury."

 

[brewnog]

"...mounted on a block of concrete that floated in a cylindrical, brick-enclosed trough of mercury."

This sounds to me like some kind of bearing for something big and heavy. A telescope?

 

[Gokul43201]

"...mounted on a block of concrete that floated in a cylindrical, brick-enclosed trough of mercury."

I believe I was told about this last winter, when I was visiting folks in the Bay Area. I think it was something about the fort below the GG Bridge. Some kind of terrestrial telescope (copied that off of brew), perhaps ?