🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <132...@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> her...@dogwalk.Sun.COM (Brian Herzog) writes:
>On the topic of old computers (emphasis more on "old" than "computers"),
>I have a "NUCLEAR BOMB EFFECTS COMPUTER" dated 1962 (revised edition,
>no less!), which was packaged with the book "The Effects of Nuclear
>Weapons."  I don't have the book handy, but I believe it was published
>by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).  I got it from my father, who
>was a civil engineer certified in the design of fallout shelters

Hey!  We had one of those!  I worked at the National Bureau of Standards (now
NIST) during summers and vacations to put myself through college.  In the 
Center for Fire Research (of all places), there was a lab that had been the
home of a rather wacked-out tech named Max.  In addtion to collecting silver
objects ("Maxwell's Silver Hammer", "Maxwell's Silver Pencil", "Maxwell's
Silver Mustang Convertible"...), he had customized all the little magnetic
labels on the drawers.  In addition to the standard "O-rings", "pipettes",
"thermocouples", "swage-lock fittings", and so on, were a few ringers: "doorway
to another reality", for example.  When I came across "Nuclear Bomb Effects
Computer" labelled on a very small drawer one day, I assumed Max had been at
it again.  Imagine my shock when I opened the drawer, and found that it had
been labelled correctly...


-- 
        David M. Tate       | "The concept of weight of evidence was central 
  dt...@unix.cis.pitt.edu   |  to my first book, and occurred also in at least
                            |  32 other publications [of mine].  What I say 33
 "A Man for all Seasonings" |  times is true."          -- I. J. Good.  

In article <132...@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> her...@dogwalk.Sun.COM (Brian Herzog) writes:
>On the topic of old computers (emphasis more on "old" than "computers"),
>I have a "NUCLEAR BOMB EFFECTS COMPUTER" dated 1962 (revised edition,
>no less!), which was packaged with the book "The Effects of Nuclear
>Weapons."  I don't have the book handy, but I believe it was published
>by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).  

For those who may be interested, the current edition can be obtained from
the Department of The Army as DA Pamphlet 50-3, dated March 1977.  It is a
rather massive "pamphlet" <653 pages>, and contains such breathtaking
chapters as "Air Blast Phenomena in Air and Surface Bursts" and "Shock
Effects of Surface and Subsurface Bursts".  It is also chock full of
gorgeous equations for those of you who like that kind of thing.

>
>The computer is a plastic 5" diameter variation on a circular slide rule,
>with a dazzling assortment of overlays and windows and charts.  Starting
>with range and yield, you can calculate everything you ever wanted to
>know about those detonations coming soon to a nuclear theater near you,
>including:  optimum burst height, fireball radius (avg), duration,
>velocity, percentage of thermal energy emitted over time, crater size
>for various soil compositions, radiation exposure (and probable human
>effect), and more, along with handy lookup tables such as "Glass-Missile
>Data for Penetration of 1-cm Soft Tissue."
>

This has also been revised <in 1977>....a remarkable "whiz wheel". My
favorite item is the "Man-Velocity Range Data at 10 Ft. of Travel",
which lets you computer just how fast an average body will be hurtling
through the air when hit by the shock wave of the blast you have selected.
I shudder to think how this particular category came to be useful enough
to include in the calculator........

>Not exactly a general purpose computer, but then again, it was probably
>faster to use, and certainly a lot smaller, than digital computers
>of the time...
>

Hey, after a little practice, you can get pretty darn fast with this
monster.....I used to REALLY confuse some of my friends with some
quick calculations while they were still hacking through the equations.


Wes Morgan
Former 12E <let's see how many netters know what *that* means>

-- 
  The opinions expressed above are not those of UKECC unless so noted.
Wes Morgan                 \       {rutgers,rayssd,uunet}!ukma!ukecc!morgan
University of Kentucky      \   or mor...@engr.uky.edu
Engineering Computing Center \  or morgan%engr.uky.edu@UKMA.BITNET

In article <14...@s.ms.uky.edu>, mor...@ms.uky.edu (Wes Morgan) writes:
> 
> Wes Morgan
> Former 12E <let's see how many netters know what *that* means>
> 

Try ADM Engineer, probably changed to something else about 1986 or 87.
-- 
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Kurt Miles                   |      GreyMan ------>    and the    <----- DRAGON 
KMILES@USU (Bitnet)          |      ...... remember, sometimes the DRAGON wins!
KMI...@CC.USU.EDU (Internet) |                                     ------
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Doctoral Student in Instructional Technology at Utah State University
"Dissertation?   Doesn't that come after dinner?  I like strawberry shortcake"
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