[Sci-tech-public] MARCH 16: MIT MUSEUM TALK on EARLY MIT COMPUTER

[Debbie Meinbresse]

>>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.
>>Wednesday, March 16
>>Object Lessons: Better, Faster, More - Computer Memory
>>Before Intel Inside®, 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.
>>
>>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.)
>>Visitors can view one of the original core memory planes in "Mind and 
>>Hand: The Making of MIT Scientists and Engineers."
>>-- Noon - 1pm
>>-- Refreshments provided
>>-- General audience
>>__________________________________
>>
>>MIT Museum
>>265 Massachusetts Avenue
>>Cambridge, MA 02139
>>--  Hours: Tues - Fri 10 am - 5 pm; Sat & Sun Noon - 5 pm. Closed holidays.
>>-- Admission: Adults - $5; youth under 18, students, seniors - $2; 
>>children under 5 and MIT ID holders - free.
>>-- Free third Sunday of each month
>>-- Wheelchair accessible
>>
>>Information: 617-253-4444 or http://web.mit.edu/museum
>
>
>--
>Jack Curtis
>Public Relations & Marketing Office
>617-253-4422
>jcurtis at mit.edu
>
>MIT Museum
>265 Massachusetts Ave, Bldg. N52
>Cambridge, MA 02139
>617-253-4444
>FAX: 617-253-8994
>
>A great place to explore ideas, invention, and innovation
>http://web.mit.edu/museum
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