Monthly Archives: May 2006
ENIACiana
The ENIAC may or may not have been the first of its kind—the first fully functional, all-electronic, general-purpose, digital computer—but there’s no doubt it was the last of its kind. They never built another one like it. Computers designed just … Continue reading
Room 641A
These are the days of miracle and wonder This is a long distance call —Paul Simon As a person who occasionally sends e-mail and talks on the telephone, I’ve been following with interest and curiosity all the recent press reports … Continue reading
Posted in computing, modern life
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The oddest numbers
At the library the other day I was perusing the Collected Rantings and Ravings of Edsger W. Dijkstra [Note 1]. While leafing through the pages in search of something else [Note 2], I stumbled across “An Exercise for Dr. R. … Continue reading
Posted in computing, mathematics, problems and puzzles
4 Comments
Refrigeration by filtering
It’s no secret that the way to win fame and fortune in physics is to invent a better refrigerator. Michael Faraday and James Prescott Joule and J. J. Thomson (Lord Kelvin) were all thinkers or tinkerers in refrigeration; the Kelvinator … Continue reading
Posted in physics
3 Comments