On Fri, 21 Jul 2000 10:39:44 -0500, Chris Huff <chr### [at] maccom> wrote:

>In article <i9gfnsggve6frmv0lkvvevhcb6vaarjptm@4ax.com>, Alan Kong 
><ako### [at] povrayNO-SPAMorg> wrote:
>
>>   Does it have any information on ENIAC or other pioneering digital
>> devices?
>
>Nothing....at least, nothing that I could find. Not even anything on 
>mechanical computers...though there might be something under Babbage.

I have the 1955 edition of E.B. and for computers the index refers to
"Mathematical Instruments" which leads to "Calculating Machines".  This article
has over 8 pages, with photographs, and is a good survey of mechanical
calculators from Babbage through to Remington Rand. There is a reference to the
IBM sequence controlled calculator at Harvard (1946) and says  "under the
control of a sequence tape; multiplication and division up to 23 significant
figures are possible"  Under the heading "Relay and Electronic Calculators" it
says "The electronic tube which can operate in the order of millionths of a
second naturally recommends itself for high-speed calculators, and many such
units have been built. Many of these developments were undertaken during World
War II, and complete information is not yet available to the public."
dav### [at] hamiltonitecom
http://www.hamiltonite.com/

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