Oral history interview with Jay Wright Forrester, 1975.

  1. Resources
  2. View Resource

ArchivalResource

Oral history interview with Jay Wright Forrester, 1975.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/63283015

This interview concerns the work leading to the development of the Whirlwind computer at MIT. Forrester begins with his work in the MIT Servomechanisms Laboratory on an aircraft stability analyzer. He explains how the complexity of the problem made him change his plan and use a digital computer instead of the MIT differential analyzer. This leads to a discussion of the Whirlwind computer, and the choice of computer architecture and storage technology. Forrester describes the completion of a prototype in 1947, of an operating computer in 1949, the invention of magnetic core memory, and its incorporation into the Whirlwind in 1953.

Sound cassette : 1 (60 min.) : analog, mono.Transcript : 19 p.

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7885065

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Related Entities

There are 3 Entities related to this resource.

Evans, Christopher Riche

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gm8sx1 (person)

British computer scientist. From the description of Pioneers of computing, 1975-1976. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 63283010 ...

Massachusetts institute of technology. Servomechanisms laboratory

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62p1jjh (corporateBody)

Project Whirlwind was centered in the Servomechanics Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology with its original objective being the development of a device that would simulate airplanes in flight. In the course of the research, Whirlwind eventually evolved into a key element of the U.S.'s early air defense system. Since M.I.T. did not view this as an appropriate action for an educational institution to take part in, it transferred the entire project to the MITRE Corp. From...

Forrester, Jay Wright

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64n6p79 (person)

Head of the Whirlwind project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). From the description of Oral history interview with Jay Wright Forrester, 1975. (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis). WorldCat record id: 63283015 ...