Integraph Unit of Vannevar Bush
Integraph Unit of Vannevar Bush
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- Description
- This is the integraph-unit used by Vannevar Bush and his colleagues at MIT before they constructed the first differential analyzer. It consists of a Thomson watthour meter (in a box) with a geat train on under the box that has a crank at the rear. A nameplate on the meter reads: Thomson watthour meter / direct current / 3 wire / No 5813227 Type 06 / Amp 10 Volts 231-240 / m27778 General Electric Co. U.S.A.
- The object was donated to the museum with a large collection of electrical apparatus, much of it in the Electricity collections.
- This instrument is a small part of a device that calculated the integral of the product of two functions. It was variously described as a product integraph and a continuous integraph. Illustrations of the system appear in the 1927 paper cited.
- References:
- V. Bush, F.D. Gage, and H.R. Stewart, "A Continuous Integraph," Journal of the Franklin Institute, vol. 203 #1, 1927, pp. 63-84.
- S. Puchta, "On the Role of Mathematics and Mathematical Knowledge in the Invention of Vannevar Bush's Early Analog Computers," IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 1996, vol. 18 # 4, pp. 49-59.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- integraph
- date made
- ca 1925
- maker
- Bush, Vannevar
- place made
- United States: Massachusetts, Cambridge
- Physical Description
- metal (overall material)
- wood (overall material)
- rubber (overall material)
- glass (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 63.5 cm x 28 cm x 37 cm; 25 in x 11 1/32 in x 14 9/16 in
- box: 12 1/2 in x 7 in x 7 in; 31.75 cm x 17.78 cm x 17.78 cm
- ID Number
- MA.322186
- catalog number
- 322186
- accession number
- 244197
- Credit Line
- Gift of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering
- subject
- Mathematics
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Mathematics
- Mechanical Integrators and Analyzers
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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