Can't help you with specific publication references, but you should look up some of the analog computing companies such as Donner Scientific and Electronic Associates. You also might consider Hewlett-Packard. ---------------------------------------------

Dear All,

I'm looking for advice in the form of references to any publications that might treat or touch on the topic of scientific instrument firms as electronic computer manufacturers in the 1950s and 1960s.

I'm aware of two southern California stories: the efforts at Consolidated Electrodynamics -- which led to the Burroughs' Datatron (http://tjsawyer.com/B205Home.htm) in the early and middle 1950s, and the efforts at Beckman Instruments, Inc. that initiated in the middle 1950s and continued well into the 1960s.

I've done some poking around for relevant references, but haven't really found anything.

Any ideas?

Best wishes,

David

P.S. I would, of course, welcome any pointers to relevant archival collections. ___________ David C. Brock Senior Research Fellow Center for Contemporary History and Policy Chemical Heritage Foundation Principal, D.C. Brock Consulting 40 Russell Street Greenfield, MA 01301 USA Telephone: 413-773-7130 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Fax: 866-636-4480 dcb@dcbrock.net davidb@chemheritage.org

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Dear David, Many electricity and electronics firms had branches manufacturing scientific instruments: Ferranti, Philips, Siemens etc. Without detailed study it will be hard to establish the link between such instrument-making branches and the, often new, branches producing computers. I suppose Ferranti, picking up on the production of the Manchester computers, is a case in point, Ferranti: A History - Building A Family Business, 1882 - 1975 <http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ferranti-History-Building-Family-Business/dp/185936098X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278336011&sr=8-1> , John F Wilson, 2003, has a few pages on computer production. You probably want to trace the developments of ITT-Standard Electric and its European ramifications like Stantec (in the UK producing the ZEBRA of Dutch design) and Standard Electric/k Lorentz (diff an). In general we may expect scientific instrument firms to enter into the manufacturing of analog machines before turning to digital computers: AEI, Beckman etc. In Germany Siemens (Siemens & Halske) followed this path. Apart from a few remarks by Hartmut Petzold, in his 1985 Rechnende Maschinen and his 1992 Moderne Rechenkünstler, I do not know the key reference to the literature. Hope our German colleagues can help us out here. Gerard Alberts ________________________________ Van: members-bounces@sigcis.org namens David C. Brock Verzonden: vr 2-7-2010 16:01 Aan: members@sigcis.org Onderwerp: [SIGCIS-Members] Scientific Instrument Firms as ComputerManufacturers in the 1950s and 1960s Dear All, I'm looking for advice in the form of references to any publications that might treat or touch on the topic of scientific instrument firms as electronic computer manufacturers in the 1950s and 1960s. I'm aware of two southern California stories: the efforts at Consolidated Electrodynamics -- which led to the Burroughs' Datatron (http://tjsawyer.com/B205Home.htm) in the early and middle 1950s, and the efforts at Beckman Instruments, Inc. that initiated in the middle 1950s and continued well into the 1960s. I've done some poking around for relevant references, but haven't really found anything. Any ideas? Best wishes, David P.S. I would, of course, welcome any pointers to relevant archival collections. ___________ David C. Brock Senior Research Fellow Center for Contemporary History and Policy Chemical Heritage Foundation Principal, D.C. Brock Consulting 40 Russell Street Greenfield, MA 01301 USA Telephone: 413-773-7130 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Fax: 866-636-4480 dcb@dcbrock.net davidb@chemheritage.org _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members@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