Episode 161 - The IAS Machine

Advent of Computing

The first batch of digital computers emerge directly following WWII. The hallmark of this generation is uniqueness: no two computers are the same. However, there is a machine that bucks that trend. The IAS Machine, built in Princeton in the late 1940s, served as the inspiration for at least a dozen later computers. But how similar were these Princeton-class computers? What exactly was so special about the IAS Machine? And how does good 'ol Johnny von Neumann get tied up in all of this?

The Eastern Boarder map fundraiser

Selected Sources:

Bigelow Oral History - https://www.si.edu/media/NMAH/NMAH-AC0196_bige710120.pdf

Prelin IAS Machine Report - https://www.ias.edu/sites/default/files/library/Prelim_Disc_Logical_Design.pdf