Archival History of Computing at MIT, 1950–62

The MIT Digital Humanities Programs, together with the MIT Libraries Department of Distinctive Collections, have digitized and contextualized the majority of archived documents relating to the history of the MIT Computation Center from the 1950s and early 1960s.
Try searching for: Humanities | Whirlwind | Laura | Social science research | Calvin | 704 | Physics
Teaser image for three_man_months
“Three Man-Months” One might presume that the primary issue with the computers of the 1950’s was that they were slow. But lack of processing power was not necessarily the bottleneck here.
Teaser image for cost_of_using_a_supercomputer
Cost of Using a Supercomputer With an infinite amount of problems to solve and only one supercomputer, time usage for the Whirlwind 1 was limited. To actually use it, one would have to request time at rates up to $250/hour or $2400/hour when adjusted for inflation.
Teaser image for IBM_mechanics
A Brief Journey Inside the IBM 704 There was once a time when the Massachusetts Institute of Technology didn't have any computers. Check out this story to learn about the huge primitive beast that changed MIT.
Teaser image for network_story
The Letter Network Take a look at the top contributors in the MIT Computation Center archives by seeing a visualization of who was writing the most, and to whom.
Teaser image for geo_timeline
Computing in the 1930s - A Geospatial Timeline A tour and timeline of notable events in the early history of computation.
Teaser image for announcement_of_the_IBM_704
Announcement of the IBM 704 In December of 1955, MIT and IBM collaborated in a joint press release to announce that the university would be receiving its own IBM 704 computer. This new device was very advanced for its time, and would significantly impact many fields of study.