Supercomputers: Charting the Future of Cybernetics

Charlene W. Billings, Sean M. Grady9780816047307, 0-8160-4730-8

Some computers are so fast and powerful that they are known as ”supercomputers.” The next generation of these computers will be able to complete more than one trillion operations per second. We need computers that are powerful enough to access, process, and apply the world’s store of information, which is doubling approximately every five years. Supercomputers, a totally revised and expanded edition in the new Science and Technology in Focus series, introduces readers to the history of these powerful machines and looks to their role in the future. This new edition covers recent advances such as optical computing (the use of light, rather than electrons, to carry information) and quantum computing (the application of quantum mechanics to create computers that operate, in part, on the atomic scale). Written in a lively, informative tone, Supercomputers presents the latest computer technology in a clear and exciting format that will benefit all readers interested in this fast-growing field.

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Table of contents :
CONTENTS……Page 4
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……Page 9
INTRODUCTION……Page 10
PART 1: Creating a Calculating Machine……Page 14
1 THE ORIGINAL COMPUTERS……Page 16
Calculating by Hand……Page 17
Beads, Sticks, and Wheels……Page 18
Tide Tables and Insurance Charts……Page 24
2 ANALYTICAL ENGINES AND CENSUS WEAVERS……Page 26
Mathematical “Engines” Charles Babbage’s……Page 27
Programmable Looms……Page 30
Pins, Quicksilver, and the 1890 Census……Page 33
3 AUTOMATING THE OFFICE……Page 37
Typewriters and Number Crunchers……Page 38
Efficiency Experts and Office Automation……Page 40
Early Excursions into Cybernetics……Page 42
4 ARTILLERY TABLES AND CODE BREAKERS……Page 45
Number Crunching for the Military……Page 46
IBM’s Mark I and II……Page 47
A Colossal Advance in Cracking an Enigma……Page 50
5 THE FIRST “THINKING MACHINES”……Page 54
A Room Full of Vacuum Tubes……Page 55
Setting the Pattern for Future Computers……Page 59
EDSAC, UNIVAC, and Other First-Generation Computers……Page 62
6 SMALLER IS BIGGER……Page 66
Transistors Take to the Field……Page 67
Bringing Computers to the Business World……Page 71
“No More Than a Dozen”……Page 72
PART 2: Transition to Supercomputers……Page 76
7 SEYMOUR CRAY’S REFRIGERATED COMPUTERS……Page 78
The Need for Speed……Page 79
Seymour Cray Enters the Fray……Page 80
Keeping Computers Cool……Page 84
Supercomputers Hit the Market……Page 86
8 RAISING THE STANDARDS……Page 89
Competition in a High-Speed Race……Page 91
Twenty-five Years of Supercomputer Growth……Page 94
9 PUTTING THE “SUPER” IN SUPERCOMPUTERS……Page 99
Inside a Modern Supercomputer……Page 100
The Importance of Parallel Processing……Page 102
Shrinking Boxes to Fit the Components……Page 106
10 THE BUSINESS OF SUPERCOMPUTERS……Page 107
Putting the Pieces Together……Page 108
How to Design a New Machine……Page 110
The Rise and Fall of Supercomputer Stars……Page 112
PART 3: Putting Supercomputers to Work……Page 114
11 SUPERCOMPUTER CENTERS……Page 116
A Quick World Tour of Supercomputing Institutions……Page 118
Setting Up Centers in the United States……Page 120
Promoting the Use of Supercomputers……Page 123
12 SUPERCOMPUTERS AND SCIENCE……Page 127
Making Sense of Turbulence……Page 128
Bringing the Stars Down to Earth……Page 129
Studying and Shaping Matter’s Building Blocks……Page 131
Grinding through the Genome……Page 135
Supercomputers and Computer Science……Page 137
Supercomputers and Simulation……Page 138
13 SUPERCOMPUTERS AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGN……Page 139
A Brainstorming Tool in a Desktop Box……Page 140
On-screen Prototypes and Instant Models……Page 142
Manufacturing Made More Efficient……Page 145
14 NEW TOOLS FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY……Page 150
Supercomputers on the Screen and behind the Scenes……Page 151
Pixels, Camera, Action!……Page 153
The Games We Play with Computers……Page 155
15 SUPERCOMPUTING ACROSS THE INTERNET……Page 158
An Early “Killer App” for Supercomputers……Page 159
Tapping into a World of Resources……Page 162
A Million Steps at the Same Time……Page 166
PART 4: Supercomputers in the 21st Century……Page 170
16 OBSTACLES IN THE PATH OF SUPERCOMPUTER GROWTH……Page 172
Enforcing Moore’s Law……Page 173
The Limits of Miniaturization……Page 175
How Much Power Will People Need?……Page 179
17 THREE AREAS FOR ADVANCEMENT……Page 181
The Importance of Parallel Processing……Page 182
Hypercomputers: All for One……Page 184
Tuple Space: Any Task, Any Time……Page 188
18 OPTICAL AND QUANTUM COMPUTING……Page 191
Optical Computing……Page 193
Quantum Computing……Page 196
19 SUPERCOMPUTERS ON THE DESKTOP?……Page 202
Virtual Reality……Page 203
Artificial Intelligence……Page 206
Cybernetics……Page 208
GLOSSARY……Page 210
FURTHER READING……Page 226
Academic and Governmental Sites……Page 231
Supercomputer Manufacturers……Page 232
Other Sites……Page 233
INDEX……Page 234