Exhibit on Vannevar Bush's profile tracer
Description
Image of an exhibit of Vannavar Bush's product integraph machine. Shown is a mounted photograph of Bush standing at the machine with F. G. Kear, H. L. Hazen, and F. G. Gage. There are three captions on the upper and lower corners and on the right in the middle of the panel. Other parts of the exhibit are visible on top and to the left of the product integraph panel. Original caption (front): "Vannevar Bush with F. G. Kear, H. L. Hazen, and F. G. Gage using the product integraph. The equations to be integrated are plotted by hand on sheets of paper. These are then slowly passed under pointers, and operators stationed along the machine keep the pointers on the curves." Original caption (front): "The Product Integraph/ Vannevar Bush spent several years in the mid twenties developing the 'product integraph.' It could semiautomatically solve in hours problems in advanced electrical theory that would otherwise have required months of hand computation. In describing his machine, Vannevar Bush said, 'The product integraph might be called an adding-machine carried to an extreme in its design. Where workers in the business world are ordinarily satisfied with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of numbers, the engineer deals with curves and graphs which represent for him the past, present, and future of the things in which he deals.'" Original caption (front): "The foundation of the integraph is a watt-hour meter, similar to those installed in homes. As the pointers of the integraph move up and down, they control the power flowing through the meter. The meter directs a motor to drive a pencil across a slowly moving paper. The curve traced expresses the result sought. Lent by the Smithsonian Institution." Original caption (back): "from IBM exhibit A Computer Perspective". Original credit line: Charles Eames 901 Washington Boulevard Venice California, COX 1702 J.