| Description |
1 online resource (x, 201 pages) : illustrations |
| Series |
History of computing |
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History of computing (London, England)
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| Contents |
Intro -- Preface -- Contents -- 1 Electrologica, a Gem -- 1.1 Electrologica Is a Gem in the History of Dutch Computing -- 1.1.1 Organizing Research -- 1.1.2 Mathematical Culture -- 1.1.3 Owning Electrologica -- 1.2 State of the Art -- 1.2.1 The Company -- 1.2.2 The Mathematical Center -- 1.2.3 Software, Language, and ALGOL -- 1.2.4 The Dijkstra-Zonneveld Compiler -- 1.2.5 Industrial Design and Cold War -- 1.3 On Offer -- 2 Philips and the Fate of Electrologica -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Calculating Machines in the Postwar Innovation Spirit -- 2.3 The English Tour -- 2.4 The Harvest of 1953 |
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2.5 Towards Production in Series, the ZEBRA Story -- 2.6 Electrologica -- 2.7 Electrologica's Company Strategy -- 2.8 Knowledge and Propriety at Philips -- 2.9 European Perspective -- 3 From the X1 to the X8 -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 Towards Electrologica's Founding -- 3.3 Electrologica X1 -- 3.3.1 Developing the Prototype for Nillmij -- 3.3.2 Electrologica Takes off -- 3.3.3 Electrologica's Connection to Peripherals -- 3.3.4 Delivering Software -- 3.4 Seeking a Successor: X0 and X2, or the X8 -- 3.4.1 Ambitious Successors to the X1 -- 3.4.2 A Realistic Successor to the X1, the X8 |
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3.4.3 Users Get Involved: The Z8 Software Committee -- 3.5 The ELX Series Marked the End -- 4 Software Without Memory -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Early Computer Science in the Netherlands -- 4.3 A Personal Perspective -- 4.4 Two Suggestions for History Research -- 5 The Mathematical Center, ALGOL 60, and the Electrologica X8 -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 My Years at the Mathematical Center -- 5.3 The Electrologica X1 and X8 -- 5.4 ALGOL 60 -- 5.5 The MC Implementation of ALGOL 60 forthe Electrologica X8 -- 5.5.1 Language Choice and Language Interpretation |
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5.5.2 The Mapping from Source Language to Object Language -- 5.5.3 The Construction of the Compiler -- 5.6 Text Editing Anno 1960-1965 -- 5.7 Closing Remarks and Evaluation -- 6 History of Dekker's Algorithm for Mutual Exclusion -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Definition of the Mutual Exclusion Problem for Two Processes -- 6.3 Dekker's Algorithm for Mutual Exclusion -- 6.4 Variants -- 6.5 Mutual Exclusion for Any Number of Processes -- 7 The Electrologica X8 and the BOL Detector -- 7.1 Introduction and Background -- 7.2 The BOL Project -- 7.3 Why and How the X8 Came to IKO |
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7.4 Setting up the Computing and Network Infrastructure -- 7.5 Time-Sharing -- 7.6 Developing Data Reduction and Analysis Software -- 7.7 Software for Minicomputer Network Nodes -- 7.8 Final Considerations and Conclusions -- 8 An Early Experiment in Algorithmic Composition -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Affix Grammars -- 8.3 The IFIP Competition -- 8.4 The Musical Result -- Appendix 1 Composing with a computer -- Appendix 2 The Algol 60 procedure compose -- References -- A Note on the Contributors -- Provenance of the Pictures -- Index |
| Summary |
Manufacturing computers in series was quite a feat in the 1950s. As mathematical as it gets, the machines discussed here were called X1 and X8. The industrial achievement combined with the background in a mathematical research center made the company Electrologica a legend in Dutch computing. The tales in this book are told by those who have a right to tell. Highly engaged professionals take readers back to their pioneering work with the machines and in retrospect unveil some of the values, which went without saying in the 1960s. To disagree, Paul Klint relates the contrasting views on software in Dutch research traditions. ALGOL culture: Frans Kruseman Aretz takes the reader along to the detailed decisions on constructing compilers and shows the values of an ALGOL culture transpiring. Signposts: Dirk Dekker for the first time owns his algorithm for mutual exclusion. In particle physics: Rene van Dantzigs use case was an Electrologica X8 computer controlling two other computers in three-dimensional detection of colliding particles. Early steps in AI: Lambert Meertens tale of the X8 machine composing a violin quartet comes with his original presentation, as well as the code in ALGOL 60. The reflections of first hand experiences combine well with the second thoughts of historical research into archival sources. Historians Huub de Beer and Gerard Alberts offer a view into the boardrooms of the local enterprise Electrologica, and of the electronics multinational Philips. Where pioneers and historians meet in an inspiring dialogue, the reader gains a view on the often implicit decisions constituting the field. Fortuitously, a copy of the X8 was retrieved from Kiel, Germany, and put on display at Rijksmuseum Boerhaave, Leiden. Sparked by the very material presence of an X8, the present book takes stock of the state of historiography of Electrologica. Gerard Alberts is an associate professor in History of Digital Cultures, retired from the University of Amsterdam. Jan Friso Groote is a full professor of Formal Methods at the Eindhoven University of Technology. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on March 06, 2023) |
| Subject |
Electrologica
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Computer industry -- Netherlands -- History
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Computer scientists -- Netherlands
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Computer industry
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Computer scientists
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Netherlands
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| Genre/Form |
History
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| Author |
Alberts, G. (Gerard), 1954- editor.
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Groote, J. F. (Jan Friso), 1965- editor.
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| ISBN |
3031130332 |
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9783031130335 |
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