September 2010 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

Petroluem claim: truer for small computers than big ones
by Thomas Haigh 14 Sep '10

14 Sep '10

The claim is about the early days of computing, and there are two parts: that the petroleum industry was the initial lead consumer, and that the federal government eventually replaced it. We can look at the first two large machines sold commercially in the US: the Univac I and the IBM 701. According to the list at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNIVAC_I there were 18 Univac 1 installations. None went to petroleum firms. The first 6 all went to the Federal government. 3 went to insurance companies and several to utilities. The IBM 701 had 18 installations. http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/701/701_customers.html None were for petroleum companies. Only three seems to have been directly for the federal government. Eight were for aerospace firms (and so supported by Federal contracts indirectly). A couple went to universities. The IBM 702 customer list is less easily accessible, but I suspect would be dominated by utilities, large manufacturers, and insurance firms. So neither claim holds up for large machines of the first generation. Of course by number the IBM 650 sold far more than any of the other models, but it was by no stretch of the imagination a large number cruncher. According to the Feb 1958 issue of Office Automation, of 472 IBM 650 computers for which data was available (from a population of around 1,100) the biggest user sectors are refinery (9.8%), Aircraft (8.9%), Insurance (8.8%) and electrical and electronic manufacturing firms. (8.4%) About 12% were in the federal govt and military. So the claim holds up much better for small computers in the mid-1950s - refineries are the biggest private sector users, though still not literally true as the Federal government is larger still. Tom

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Re: [SIGCIS-Members] petroleum and computers
by hemmendd＠union.edu 14 Sep '10

14 Sep '10

>Recently, I received a question about a claim that the petroleum- >seeking geophysics industry was once the greatest consumer of >computers, only surpassed at some later point by the federal >government. No citation was given and there is quite a bit of >skepticism but where would you advise us to look to refute this claim >(or perhaps my own aerospace bias is too strong and the claim is true!). I have no opinion, but a google search turned up several items that might help refute (or confirm) it: 1. The Leading Edge; January 2006; v. 25; no. 1; p. 12-17; DOI: 10.1190/1.2164747, 2006 Society of Exploration Geophysicists SEG 75th ANNIVERSARY Recollections about the advent of digital seismic technology Al Sabitay, Caversham, Australia The google page that brought this up has an intriguing snippet: In the late 1960s, I understood that 60% of computer use was associated with the search ... (Editor's note: The story of the research that led to the digital revolution in exploration geophysics in the 1960s has been often (and deservedly) told. Less well known is the story of those who had to implement the new concepts and equipment in the field. Here, as part of TLE's series of articles commemorating SEG's 75th Anniversary in 2005, are some recollections about the early digital field work from a longtime geophysicist who had a ringside seat during this revolution and is, coincidentally, 75 years old himself.) 2. Google books: Deconvolution of geophysical time series in the exploration for oil and natural gas, Manuel T. Silvia, Enders A. Robinson: On p. 27: the petroleum exploration industry uses more magnetic computer tape than any other group in the world. 3. Enders Robinson was the first head of the MIT Geophysical Analysis Group (GAG), and developed the deconvolution techniques used in prospecting. In 1997 the IEEE recorded an oral history: http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Oral-History:Enders_Robinson . If he's available, he might be able to help. David Hemmendinger hemmendd(a)union.edu Computer Science Dept. http://athena.union.edu/~hemmendd Union College +1 518 388 6319 Schenectady, NY 12308 FAX: +1 518 388 6789

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Re: [SIGCIS-Members] petroleum and computers
by Bill Degnan 14 Sep '10

14 Sep '10

Hello. This is my first post. The archives at the Hagley Museum in Wilmington Delaware USA will have information on this subject, specific especially to DuPont and IBM but very possibly the entire petroleum industry of the era you're discussing. DuPont, if you include them as part of the petroleum industry, was a significant consumer of computer resources during this time. Best, Bill Degnan University of Delaware Computer History -------- Original Message -------- > From: "Scott Campbell" <sm2campb(a)uwaterloo.ca> > Sent: Tuesday, September 14, 2010 11:12 AM > To: "Deborah Douglas" <ddouglas(a)mit.edu> > Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] petroleum and computers > > For what it's worth with regards to the Canadian situation, although > the petroleum industry (particularly Imperial Oil) showed very early > interest in the 1950s in computing, it was never dominant consumer of > computers/computing resources. I don't think the early work was even > related to petroleum seeking, but an inventory control system. We > certainly didn't have much of an aerospace industry in Canada. Here > the power users throughout the 1960s with the big machines were > finance (banking and insurance) and to a lesser degree, governments. > > Scott > > On Mon, Sep 13, 2010 at 18:47, Deborah Douglas <ddouglas(a)mit.edu> wrote: > > Colleagues, > > > > Recently, I received a question about a claim that the petroleum-seeking > > geophysics industry was once the greatest consumer of computers, only > > surpassed at some later point by the federal government. No citation was > > given and there is quite a bit of skepticism but where would you advise us > > to look to refute this claim (or perhaps my own aerospace bias is too strong > > and the claim is true!). > > > > Thanks, > > > > Debbie Douglas > > > > > > Deborah G. Douglas, Ph.D. > > Curator of Science and Technology > > MIT Museum, N51-209 > > 265 Massachusetts Avenue > > Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 > > ddouglas(a)mit.edu . 617-253-1766 phone . 617-253-8994 fax > > http://web.mit.edu/museum . http://webmuseum.mit.edu . > > http://museum.mit.edu/150 > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > This email is relayed from members(a)sigcis.org, the email discussion list of > > SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ > > and you can change your subscription options at > > http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members > > > > > _______________________________________________ > This email is relayed from members(a)sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members

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petroleum and computers
by Deborah Douglas 14 Sep '10

14 Sep '10

Colleagues, Recently, I received a question about a claim that the petroleum- seeking geophysics industry was once the greatest consumer of computers, only surpassed at some later point by the federal government. No citation was given and there is quite a bit of skepticism but where would you advise us to look to refute this claim (or perhaps my own aerospace bias is too strong and the claim is true!). Thanks, Debbie Douglas Deborah G. Douglas, Ph.D. Curator of Science and Technology MIT Museum, N51-209 265 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 ddouglas(a)mit.edu • 617-253-1766 phone • 617-253-8994 fax http://web.mit.edu/museum • http://webmuseum.mit.edu • http://museum.mit.edu/150

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Self-introduction
by Federico Gobbo 14 Sep '10

14 Sep '10

Dear colleagues, just a brief note in order to introduce myself to the mailing list. My name is Federico Gobbo and I currently belong to the University of Insubria, Varese, Italy. The last academic year I was a Privatdozent in History of Computing in my University, after being a tutor in Computing and Philosophy during my PhD years. Delving into the history of ideas at the foundation of Computer Science I developed an interest in the intertwining between the history of philosophy, logics, mathematics, computation and the birth of the discipline. I feel that mostly philosophy of computing neglets the historical aspects, thus I proposed a different point of view about nowadays popular topics such as the impact of web 2.0 technologies – in particular social networks – and new technologies of writing (blogs, wikis, etc.). In general, I think I will read (and learn) your messages in the mailing list, so thank you all for your kind attention. Best regards, Federico Gobbo -- http://federicogobbo.name

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History of open-source
by Evan Koblentz 10 Sep '10

10 Sep '10

Apologies if I've asked this before .... does anyone know of a solid history of open-source computing?

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Vacuum Tube Development Committee
by Evan Koblentz 09 Sep '10

09 Sep '10

Last week I visited Harvard's archives of the Radio Research Lab, and found some meeting minutes of the Vacuum Tube Development Committee (1943-1945 timeframe) .... I can't find much online that nicely summarizes this committee and its activity / purpose. Can someone here point me to a good overview?

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Announcing The Bubble Chamber: Where History and Philosophy of Science Meets Society and Public Policy
by HAPSAT Society 09 Sep '10

09 Sep '10

*The Bubble Chamber* is a new blog written by historians and philosophers of science for discussing contemporary issues of science and society through the lens of historical context and critical analysis. Founded by the University of Toronto's Science Policy Working Group, *The Bubble Chamber* is a forum for those interested in a critical assessment of science in society and the development, regulation, and trajectory of science. http://thebubblechamber.org/

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History of computing exhibition in Paris
by Pierre Mounier 06 Sep '10

06 Sep '10

Hi, The 60th anniversary of the first French electronic calculators will be celebrated next week, near Paris, with an exhibition on the history of computing. Please find the announcement attached. Best, Pierre E. Mounier-Kuhn CNRS & Université Paris-Sorbonne

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New member- about Al Kossow
by Al Kossow 04 Sep '10

04 Sep '10

Hello all, Having just joined this email list, I am obeying the request to post a brief paragraph about myself. I am the Robert N. Miner Software Curator at the Computer History Museum, a position that I have held since 2006. Previously, I was a Senior Software Engineer with Apple Computer from 1986 through 2005. My interests include digital preservation, software archaeology, history of computing, history of systems engineering, and trying to convince the world that preserving software is important. I also created and maintain bitsavers.org, which is one of the largest on-line archives of historic computer hardware and software documentation in the world.

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