Project Whirlwind
Photo Archives
Whirlwind began as an analog computer developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the 1940s as part
of a project studying aircraft stability problems for the U.S. Navy. A digital
Whirlwind was built between 1945 and 1952 by MIT's Digital Computer Laboratory.
Jay Forrester was director of the Digital Computer Laboratory, and the assistant director, Robert Everett, later became president of The MITRE Corporation. Producing a logical design in 1947 and running test storage programs in 1949, the directors had a fully operational Whirlwind digital computer in 1951. At that point, the U.S. Air Force took over Whirlwind's funding.
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Robert Everett at the controls of the Control Force Demonstrator developed by the Airplane Stability and Control Analyzer (ASCA) project at MIT's Servomechanism Lab. The complex needs of this aircraft simulator led to the development of the Whirlwind digital computer. (Ref. F-0120)
June 25, 1947
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MIT's Barta Building, Cambridge, MA, was the original home for Project Whirlwind.
The computer occupied 2,500 square feet on the second floor. (Ref. FB-301)
November 4, 1947
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Stephen Dodd, Jay Forrester, Robert Everett, and Ramona Ferenz
at Whirlwind I test control in the Barta Building. (Ref. F-5001)
1950
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Jay Forrester (far left, standing) and Norman Taylor (far left, pointing) inspect
completed circuitry. (Ref. F-5003)
1952
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Norman Taylor examines five-digit multiplier (with cabinet doors removed).
The multiplier tested circuitry and located points of failure in Whirlwind. (Ref.
F-0506)
October 21, 1948
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Before Forrester’s discovery of magnetic-core memory, electrostatic storage
tubes like this one were the original means for holding memory in Whirlwind. (Ref.
F-5022)
1951
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March 1, 1950—Project Whirlwind’s on-site tube department manufactured all of the computer’s
electrostatic storage tubes. Here ( l to r ) Pat Youtz, Stephen Dodd, and Jay
Forrester examine a finished product ready for use. (Ref. F-0972)
March 1, 1950
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Whirlwind assembly (cover panel removed) with electrostatic storage tube in
place. A total of 256 such tube assemblies provided 256 variable memory registers
to write computer programs. (Ref. F-0959)
1950
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Jay Forrester, inventor of magnetic-core memory, holds a 64x64 core memory
plane. (Ref. F-2358)
1954
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Close-up of magnetic-core memory showing 64x64 arrangement of magnetic elements
on surface plane. (Ref. F-2665)
circa 1954
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Memory bank in Whirlwind. Banks of magnetic-core assemblies now replace electrostatic
tube memory. (Ref. F-2129)
1953
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Wide shot of Whirlwind room. Whirlwind is now fully operational. (Ref. F-1353)
September 27, 1951
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Related
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