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<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><b>The
MIT Museum invites the MIT community and the general public for a talk
that will send them back to the 1950s, when MIT's Whirlwind project built
the first real time computer.<br>
Wednesday, March 16<br>
Object Lessons: Better, Faster, More - Computer Memory<br>
</b>Before<i> Intel Inside</i>®, before Moore's Law (that computer memory
doubles every eighteen months), before DVDs, CDs, Zip® disks and
floppies, there was core memory. In the late 1940s and early 1950s,
an amazing group of MIT engineers built Whirlwind, the first real time
computer. However, the machine was not fast enough nor did it have enough
memory to solve the kinds of scientific problems its makers wanted.
<br><br>
Project Whirlwind's leader Jay Forrester made a critical breakthrough by
designing a new type of memory. Forrester's magnetic core memory
(named for the tiny ring shaped pieces that could be magnetized) offered
more than speed and greater capacity; it also provided random access
memory (RAM). Curator of Science and Technology Deborah Douglas tells the
story of Forrester's invention. (Part of a series of brown bag
presentations by Museum curators.)<br>
Visitors can view one of the original core memory planes in "Mind
and Hand: The Making of MIT Scientists and Engineers."<br>
-- Noon - 1pm<br>
-- Refreshments provided<br>
-- General audience<br>
__________________________________<br><br>
<b><u>MIT Museum<br>
</u></b>265 Massachusetts Avenue<br>
Cambridge, MA 02139<br>
-- Hours: Tues - Fri 10 am - 5 pm; Sat & Sun Noon - 5 pm.
Closed holidays.<br>
-- Admission: Adults - $5; youth under 18, students, seniors - $2;
children under 5 and MIT ID holders - free.<br>
-- Free third Sunday of each month<br>
-- Wheelchair accessible<br><br>
Information: 617-253-4444 or<font color="#0000FF"><u>
<a href="http://web.mit.edu/museum" eudora="autourl">http://web.mit.edu/museum</a></u></font></blockquote><br><br>
<pre>--
</pre><font face="Courier New, Courier"></font>Jack Curtis<br>
Public Relations & Marketing Office<br>
617-253-4422<br>
jcurtis@mit.edu<br><br>
MIT Museum<br>
265 Massachusetts Ave, Bldg. N52<br>
Cambridge, MA 02139<br>
617-253-4444<br>
FAX: 617-253-8994<br><br>
A great place to explore ideas, invention, and innovation<br>
<a href="http://web.mit.edu/museum" eudora="autourl">http://web.mit.edu/museum</a></blockquote></body>
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