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fauxtog

macrumors 6502a
May 19, 2017
838
12,842
Buckingham Fountain
IMG_6807_jpg.jpeg
 

Chuckeee

macrumors 68040
Aug 18, 2023
3,060
8,721
Southern California
Just visited the MIT Museum in Boston


IMG_7532.jpeg

PROJECT WHIRLWIND
Whirlwind was a big machine: the largest, fastest, and most expensive of the early computers. At the height of World War II, the US Navy contracted with MIT to invent a new kind of flight simulator powered by an analog computer. Over the next several years, the project evolved into a general purpose, electronic digital computer that inspired the Air Force to create an automated air defense system.

Hardware innovations are only half the story. An unusual aspect of Project Whirlwind was its director Jay Forester's insistence that students and others be allowed to use the computer. So along with inventing procedures to program the computer, staff also invented ways to teach the science —and art— of programming. From week-long summer seminars and classes for MIT students to collaborations with colleagues from IBM, Rand Corporation, and SDC (System Development Corporation), one of Whirlwind's most lasting legacies is its contribution to the programming profession.
 

sparksd

macrumors G3
Jun 7, 2015
9,988
34,225
Seattle WA
Just visited the MIT Museum in Boston


View attachment 2411741
PROJECT WHIRLWIND
Whirlwind was a big machine: the largest, fastest, and most expensive of the early computers. At the height of World War II, the US Navy contracted with MIT to invent a new kind of flight simulator powered by an analog computer. Over the next several years, the project evolved into a general purpose, electronic digital computer that inspired the Air Force to create an automated air defense system.

Hardware innovations are only half the story. An unusual aspect of Project Whirlwind was its director Jay Forester's insistence that students and others be allowed to use the computer. So along with inventing procedures to program the computer, staff also invented ways to teach the science —and art— of programming. From week-long summer seminars and classes for MIT students to collaborations with colleagues from IBM, Rand Corporation, and SDC (System Development Corporation), one of Whirlwind's most lasting legacies is its contribution to the programming profession.

Really neat. Unfortunately, Paul Allen's great museum of computing here in Seattle has been closed for good and its exhibits are being auctioned off. A number of my former co-workers were MIT grads.
 
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oldBCguy

macrumors 65816
May 7, 2021
1,486
19,576
Burnaby, BC, Canada
View attachment 2411831
Watch your step. Cahuil, Chile. October, 2023.
... great shot!! Your photo brought back some "exciting" memories of a number of swinging bridges experienced during our trips to/in, and near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. You carefully-navigated the ackward slats, and at the same time, tried as you could to see and enjoy the wonderful views!!
 
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