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zk/The_History_of_Computing_Swade.md
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@ -4,8 +4,6 @@ tags: [literature, computer-history]
created: Friday, August 23, 2024 created: Friday, August 23, 2024
--- ---
# _The History of Computing: A Very Short Introduction_
| Title | Author | Publication date | Resource type | | Title | Author | Publication date | Resource type |
| --------------------------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | | --------------------------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- |
| The History of Computing: A Very Short Introduction | Doron Swade | 2022 | Book | | The History of Computing: A Very Short Introduction | Doron Swade | 2022 | Book |
@ -135,6 +133,36 @@ Digital machines produce results by _calculation_ whereas analogue machines
produce results by _measurement_, e.g. the height of liquid in a tank or the produce results by _measurement_, e.g. the height of liquid in a tank or the
time it taks for a tank to be emptied, time it taks for a tank to be emptied,
### Examples
#### The Phillips Hydraulic Computer
This used fluid to model the workings of the British economy. It consisted of a
series of transparent plastic tanks and pipes which were fastened to a wooden
board.
![Philips Hydraulic Computer](../img/hydraulic_computer.jpg)
Each tank represented some aspect of the UK national economy and the flow of
money around the economy was illustrated by coloured water. At the top of the
board was a large tank called the treasury. Water (representing money) flowed
from the treasury to other tanks representing the various ways in which a
country could spend its money. For example, there were tanks for health and
education. To increase spending on health care a tap could be opened to drain
water from the treasury to the tank which represented health spending.
#### Bush's Differential Analyser
This was designed to solve differential equations by integration. In contrast to
the Philips Computer it was general enough to be used to solve problems from
different contexts. Examples of these contexts: heat flow, ballistics,
mechanics, population growth, chemical interactions, astronomy.
![Differential Analyser](../img/differential_analyser_bush.jpg)
It was about the size of a room and used shafts, motgors, discs and wheels to
work.
### Historiography ### Historiography
There is a tendency in the history of computing to downplay or diminish the There is a tendency in the history of computing to downplay or diminish the