A Multi-Stranded Chronology of Analogue Computing

In the historiography of analogue computing, much of the existing scholarship conflates what are really two separate themes: calculation and modelling. On further investigation, it becomes clear that this dichotomy of ‘equation-solving’ versus ‘modelling’ also exists in the historical sources. This chapter uses a multi-stranded chronology to narrate the history of analogue computing and remain faithful to these themes. It introduces the different types of technology, and also provides an outline of the histories of various key machines and inventions. It is argued that it was not until the concept of an ‘analogue computer’ emerged that the two strands of the technology’s history (modelling and equation-solving) were unified.

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