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Cyhist Dec 04 1996 A
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Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 11:41:34 -0800
Reply-To: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU>
Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU>
From: Suzanne Johnson <johnson@rahul.net>
Subject: CYHIST: PDP 8's
______________________________________________________________________
Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
Ah yes, the PDP-8. My first encounter with one was in 1967, and it was the control computer for a Picker X-ray diffractometer, used for the study and elucidation of crystal and molecular structure at the Univ. of Illinois. The PDP-8's had been around for several years and were revolutionizing the automation of scientific equipment. The diffractometer control was set up in a way to permit the operator to enter up to about 20 lines of code (PDP-8 binary) to optimize data collection for crystallographic space group exclusions.
At about the same time, the Univ. of Illinois Chem Dept also acquired an IBM 1800 for the purpose of shared equipment control. The advantages of dedicated computers for equipment control became rapidly obvious, especially if one was dealing with a piece of equipment that generated high data rates.
PDP-8's found their way into a wide variety of equipment, and chemists and other scientists began purchasing them stand alone to automate other aspects of laboratory work. Professor Ray Dessy of the Chem. Dept. of Virginia Tech did a great deal to train and inform chemists and other scientists of the utility of laboratory automation. It would be nice to have him comment on this, since it was a major application area of "personal-like" computers that preceded (by a good bit) the PC.
Suzanne Johnson
johnson@rahul.net
Sunnyvale, CA
______________________________________________________________________
Reply-To: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU>
Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@SJUVM.STJOHNS.EDU>
From: Suzanne Johnson <johnson@rahul.net>
Subject: CYHIST: PDP 8's
______________________________________________________________________
Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
Ah yes, the PDP-8. My first encounter with one was in 1967, and it was the control computer for a Picker X-ray diffractometer, used for the study and elucidation of crystal and molecular structure at the Univ. of Illinois. The PDP-8's had been around for several years and were revolutionizing the automation of scientific equipment. The diffractometer control was set up in a way to permit the operator to enter up to about 20 lines of code (PDP-8 binary) to optimize data collection for crystallographic space group exclusions.
At about the same time, the Univ. of Illinois Chem Dept also acquired an IBM 1800 for the purpose of shared equipment control. The advantages of dedicated computers for equipment control became rapidly obvious, especially if one was dealing with a piece of equipment that generated high data rates.
PDP-8's found their way into a wide variety of equipment, and chemists and other scientists began purchasing them stand alone to automate other aspects of laboratory work. Professor Ray Dessy of the Chem. Dept. of Virginia Tech did a great deal to train and inform chemists and other scientists of the utility of laboratory automation. It would be nice to have him comment on this, since it was a major application area of "personal-like" computers that preceded (by a good bit) the PC.
Suzanne Johnson
johnson@rahul.net
Sunnyvale, CA
______________________________________________________________________
