Thomas Haigh, Mark Priestley, and Crispin Rope
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262033985
- eISBN:
- 9780262334426
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262033985.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
As soon as Metropolis had completed the initial configuration of ENIAC for the new programming method, and before it was working properly, Klara von Neumann arrived to help. She had taken the leading ...
More
As soon as Metropolis had completed the initial configuration of ENIAC for the new programming method, and before it was working properly, Klara von Neumann arrived to help. She had taken the leading role in converting the flow diagrams into program code, and together they worked around the clock for several weeks to get both program and machine into a usable state and to shuffle tens of thousands of cards in and out of it during Monte Carlo simulation of each exploding fission bomb. This chapter integrates the narrative of this initial “run,” of and a second batch of calculations carried out in late-1948 with analysis of the structure of the program itself. It finishes with an exploration of further Monte Carlo work run on ENIAC, including reactor simulations, simulation of uranium-hydride bombs, and in 1950 simulation of the “Super” concept for a hydrogen weapon.Less
As soon as Metropolis had completed the initial configuration of ENIAC for the new programming method, and before it was working properly, Klara von Neumann arrived to help. She had taken the leading role in converting the flow diagrams into program code, and together they worked around the clock for several weeks to get both program and machine into a usable state and to shuffle tens of thousands of cards in and out of it during Monte Carlo simulation of each exploding fission bomb. This chapter integrates the narrative of this initial “run,” of and a second batch of calculations carried out in late-1948 with analysis of the structure of the program itself. It finishes with an exploration of further Monte Carlo work run on ENIAC, including reactor simulations, simulation of uranium-hydride bombs, and in 1950 simulation of the “Super” concept for a hydrogen weapon.
Thomas Haigh, Mark Priestley, and Crispin Rope
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262033985
- eISBN:
- 9780262334426
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262033985.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Traces the series of Monte Carlo simulations run on ENIAC from their genesis in January 1947 exchanges between John von Neumann, Robert Richtmyer, and Stanislaw Ulam through the completion of ...
More
Traces the series of Monte Carlo simulations run on ENIAC from their genesis in January 1947 exchanges between John von Neumann, Robert Richtmyer, and Stanislaw Ulam through the completion of detailed planning work for the initial batch of calculations in December 1947. Close attention to successive drafts illuminates the process by which John and Klara von Neumann worked with Adele Goldstine to transform the former’s outline plan of computation into a fully developed flow diagram documenting the flow of control and manipulation of data for a program written in the new style.Less
Traces the series of Monte Carlo simulations run on ENIAC from their genesis in January 1947 exchanges between John von Neumann, Robert Richtmyer, and Stanislaw Ulam through the completion of detailed planning work for the initial batch of calculations in December 1947. Close attention to successive drafts illuminates the process by which John and Klara von Neumann worked with Adele Goldstine to transform the former’s outline plan of computation into a fully developed flow diagram documenting the flow of control and manipulation of data for a program written in the new style.
