Xref: utzoo news.groups:4634 comp.sys.misc:1486 comp.misc:2636 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!porthos.rutgers.edu!webber From: webber@porthos.rutgers.edu (Bob Webber) Newsgroups: news.groups,comp.sys.misc,comp.misc Subject: Re: Info wanted on eniac computers Message-ID: Date: 18 Jun 88 01:37:09 GMT References: <198@marque.mu.edu> Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J. Lines: 35 In article <198@marque.mu.edu>, johnl@marque.mu.edu (John Ledan) writes: > A friend and I have access to an ENIAC computer, and although > it's in pretty sad state, we think we can get it going provided > we can get some help and information about it. Yes, it can be quite difficult to get good documentation on the ENIAC. The more I read of the literature, the more convinced I am that most of the people who set out to describe it have never programmed it. It is amusing to trace the cribbing of author upon author back to the original 1946 10 page note in Mathematical Tables and Aids To Computation by the Goldstine's. While that note was useful for introducing numerical analysts to the power of the new machine, it is quite inadequate for the anyone directly working with the ENIAC (comparable to trying to use UNIX after reading Ritchie and Thompson's 1974 CACM paper -- a nice overview but no replacement for a systems manual). I expect to soon post a more definitive description of the ENIAC architecture, but for now, you might want to get a copy of Burks' From ENIAC to the Stored- Program Computer: Two Revolutions in Computers which appeared in A History of Computing in the Twentieth Century -- A Collection of Essays edited by N. Metropolis, J. Howlett, and Gian-Carlo Rota (Academic Press, 1980). > Where is the best place to discuss these computers,... > Any suggestions ? And thanks in advance. Currently comp.protocols.tcp-ip.eniac is the best place to discuss them as it is the only eniac-related group that the net has voted to create. Connectivity has been awkward for this group as Spafford is currently opposed to the addition of any computer-related groups to comp.*. The easiest way to establish connectivity between your site and whichever nearby sites carry comp.protocols.tcp-ip.eniac is to issue a newgroup command for it. Since it is an unmoderated group, this should cause no problems. -------- BOB (webber@athos.rutgers.edu ; rutgers!athos.rutgers.edu!webber)