Computer Development at Argonne National Laboratory

Abstract

This chapter presents the details of the computer development that took place at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The chapter points out that in 1949, at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Norman Hilbury, Frank Hoyt, and Donald Flanders, decided to have an Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) computer built to facilitate the computations related to reactor design. In 1950, Alston Householder of Oak Ridge also decided to have a machine for Oak Ridge's own use. Because Argonne already had a computer engineering group, Householder decided to subcontract the work to ANL. The second computer was named Oak Ridge Automatic Computer and Logical Engine (ORACLE). The overall architecture was like the IAS machine, but the engineering design was different. Much faster circuits were used like smaller cathode-ray tubes for memory—which was twice the size of the IAS memory.