Guide to the Project Whirlwind Collection
MC.0665

 Series 1 Laboratory Computation Notebooks 1944-1958 

Scope and Contents Note

Originated by the Servomechanisms Laboratory, Digital Computer Laboratory, and Division 6 personnel, the contents of these notebooks pertain to Aircraft Stability and Control Analyzer (6295), Navy Fire Control (6782), Whirlwind I (6345), and various Division 6 projects. A limited number of these books concern thesis research done by both graduate and undergraduate students. An appendix to this collection contains notebooks that were kept on tube testing in Whirlwind I.

Books are filed alphabetically by author’s surname. This series comprises MITRE collection AC 3. Selected notebooks were donated by MITRE to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, and can be found in their Whirlwind Computer Collection. Other notebooks were pulled for use of legal counsel and can be found in the MIT Instiute Archives collection, AC 337.

 Series 2 Whirlwind I Computer Logbook Photocopies 1948-1952 

Scope and Contents note

Project Whirlwind was sponsored by the Special Devices Center of the Office of Naval Research under Contract N5ori-60. The original objective of the project was the development of a device that would simulate airplanes in flight. As the project progressed, other applications of the computer evolved.

Whirlwind I was of the high-speed electronic digital type, in which quantities were represented as discrete numbers and complex problems were solved by the repeated use of fundamental arithmetic and logical operations. The basic elements of the computer were the control, input and output, electrostatic storage and the arithmetic element.

The arithmetic element of Whirlwind I was a parallel digit type with pulsed accumulator, a high speed carry, combined shift and carry for multiplication, and higher repetition frequency for the multiplication operation. The arithmetic element consisted of three registers; an accumulator (AC) or adding unit, which held the result of an arithmetic operation; an A-Register (AR), which received the number from the main bus and held the multiplicand during multiplication; and a B-Register (BR), an auxiliary register which held the multiplier during multiplication.

Testing of the complete A-Register was begun on December 15, 1948 along with the B-Register and Program Registers (PR). Log Books were kept from that date until June 11, 1952. The log books eventually broadened in range to reflect the daily operation of the computer.

The Whirlwind I Computer was leased to the Wolf Research and Development Corporation, West Concord, Massachusetts, under Navy Lease Contract Nonr-2956(00) in 1963.

This series was MITRE collection AC 101.

 Series 3 Aircraft Stability and Control Analyzer Memoranda and Reports 1944 November to 1945 December 

Scope and Contents note

Navy contract number NOa(S) 5216 and MIT Grant Project number 6295. This contract was awarded to investigate the feasibility of using an electrical computing machine which would be capable of accurate rapid and continuous solution of equations of motion and the accompanying auxiliary equations of an airplane.

As a result of this study, the Navy awarded a contract to the Servomechanisms Laboratory to design and construct the Whirlwind I Computer.

The series is arranged in chronological order. This series was MITRE collection AC 1.

 Series 4 Naval Fire Control Project Memoranda and Reports 1950-1953 

Scope and Contents note

Contract N5ori-06002, Project NR-232-001, was awarded to MIT’s Servomechanisms Laboratory by The Computer Branch Office of Naval Research. Work under this contract was performed from July 1950 through June 1951 by Supervisor R. A. Nelson and Research Assistants J. M. Dodd, Jr. and A. Katz under the general direction of R. R. Everett.

Known as DIC Project 6782, the group studied the possible application of digital techniques to the naval fire-control problem. With the use of the Whirlwind I computer, enough programming was done to demonstrate that digital computer techniques could perform the functions performed by analog fire-control equipment, such as the Mark 47 system.

Work performance of the contract may be found in the Project Bi-Weekly and Quarterly Progress Reports. The complete report of work performed, and the conclusions and recommendations, may be found in R-231.

On June 20, 1951, Jay Forrester, director of MIT’s Servomechanisms Laboratory, proposed an extension of this contract. The proposal was accepted by the Office of Naval Research, and the work period was extended to June 1952.

Under the direction of W. K. Linvill, the project was primarily concerned with the programming problems related to the computer’s ability to make decisions, and use of the digital computer in simulation of other equipment.

This series was MITRE collection AC 2.

 Series 5 Magnetic Materials Studies Memoranda and Reports 1951-1958 

Scope and Contents note

The urgent need for improved reliability of high-speed digital computers spurred the search for components having longer life. Lincoln’s Group 62 investigated the use of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric materials and their adaptability to digital computer circuits.

In September 1953, Group 63 installed two 32 x 32 x 17 ferrite-core-magnetic-memory banks in the Whirlwind I Computer, and increased the usable computer time from 80 to 92.5 percent. A larger 64 x 64 x 17 ferrite-core memory was installed in the MTC (prototype of the Whirlwind II air defense computer) in February 1954. Group 63 also provided the ferrite cores for the magnetic core memory of the Lincoln TX-0 computer.

Group 63 was also responsible for ensuring that satisfactory cores were provided for the high-speed, coincident-current memories of the AN/FSQ-7’s.

The series is arranged in chronological order. This series was MITRE collection AC 20.

 Series 6 Transistor Studies Memoranda and Notes 1951-1958 

Scope and Contents note

In an effort to provide a faster and more reliable computer for the air defense system, Lincoln’s Group 62 established the Transistor Section. This section was charged with the responsibility of studying the transistor as a possible component in the Whirlwind II system and of evaluating the performance in terms of maximum reliability with the maximum possible speed obtainable.

In 1955, Lincoln’s Group 63 designed and constructed the TX-0 computer to demonstrate a computer using high-speed transistor circuitry and to gain operating experience with transistor systems which communicated with core memory and terminal systems.

The series is arranged in chronological order. This series was MITRE collection AC 19.

 Series 7 Group 63 Seminar on Magnetism Memoranda 1952-1955 

Scope and Contents note

A series of seminars on magnetism were given by Arthur L. Loeb during the academic year 1952-1953. The seminar was divided into three categories:

A. Classical Magnetism and Qualitative Discussion of the Solid State (Series I through XVIII) B. Principles of Quantum Mechanics; Qualitative Explanation of Fermi and Exchange Energies (Series XIX through XXXV) C. Review of Some Recent Fundamental Research in Magnetism (Series XXXV through LV)

A breakdown of the topics discussed during the seminar may be found in M-2260.

The series is filed numerically by series, with an appendix containing material pertinent to the seminar. This series was MITRE collection AC 12.

 Series 8 Group Leaders' Meetings Minutes 1952-1958 

Scope and Contents note

The first of these Group Leaders' Meetings was held on March 26, 1952. Those attending agreed to meet each Monday morning. The meetings covered all phases of Division 6 activity – technical, administration, and personnel.

Beginning with the August 1958 meetings, the minutes include various topics of discussion regarding the newly chartered MITRE Corporation.

The series is arranged in chronological order. This series was MITRE collection AC 9.

 Series 9 Test Equipment Committee Meeting Minutes 1952-1958 

Scope and Contents note

The Test Equipment Committee was formed in April 1952 at the Group Leaders’ Meeting of April 21. D. R. Brown (Group 63) was selected chairman. The first meeting was held on May 9; however, minutes of the meetings were not issued until July 1952. The Test Equipment Committee generally met twice a month, and did so until December 1958. See L-39.

The series is arranged in chronological order. This series was MITRE collection AC 13.

 Series 10 Memory Test Computer Memoranda 1952-1958 

Scope and Contents note

Initially referred to as the WWI½ and later as the WWIA, the Memory Test Computer (MTC) was a prototype of the WWII air defense computer. Designed and constructed in 1952 by Lincoln Laboratory’s Group 62 and Group 63, MTC was built to test new computer elements. It was first used to test the practicability of a coincident-current magnetic memory.

The Memory Test Computer was a parallel computer with a word length of 16 binary digits. MTC had the same general characteristics of Whirlwind I. The computer had its first run in March 1953 and the MTC memory was installed and operational by the end of May.

The first application of MTC as a computer was to estimate the probable time necessary to transmit a group of messages from ground to aircraft over the G.E. data-link system. The Memory Test Computer was also used to test equipment for the Experimental SAGE Subsector, and to produce known data to test GFL, LRI and LRI monitor circuits before it was connected with XD-1.

MTC was shut down permanently on March 21, 1958 after all data processing activities had been transferred to the IBM-704.

The series is arranged in chronological order. This series was MITRE collection AC 23.

 Series 11 Lincoln Laboratory, Division 6, Quarterly Progress Reports 1952-1958 

Scope and Contents note

In addition to the Quarterly Progress Reports, Division 6 issued Biweekly Reports and individual Biweekly Reports.

The series is arranged in chronological order. This series was MITRE collection AC 39.

 Series 12 Lincoln Laboratory, Division 6, Biweekly Reports 1953-1957 

Scope and Contents note

The Division 6 staff discontinued the project Biweekly Reports (Whirlwind I and Air Defense) in May 1953. The work performed by the various groups was reported in a joint biweekly. The first of these, M-2183, was issued on May 22, 1953.

Projects included the following:

Group 61 – Defense (1963), SAGE System Test and Planning (1955), SAGE Operational Planning (1956), System Design (1956)

Group 62 – Whirlwind II (1953), AN/FSQ-7 Development (1954,AN/FSQ-7 Prototype Design and Installation (1955), Prototype Design and Installation (1956), ESS Installation (1956)

Group 63 – Magnetic Materials (1953), Advance Development (1955) Group 64 – Whirlwind I Computer (1953), AN/FSQ-7 Duplex and WWI (1954), Production AN/FSQ-7 and Cape Cod Direction Center (1955), ESS Test Planning – WWI and MTC Operation (1956), ESS Shakedown Testing – WWI and MTC Operation (1956)

Group 65 – Storage Tubes (1953),Vacuum Tubes (1955)

Group 66 – Production Coordination Office (1955), SAGE – Direction Center and Combat Center Sites (1956), SAGE DC and CC Sites Program Installation (1957) Group 67 – Computer Program Production (1956)

In September 1956, the Biweekly Reports were discontinued and the Division 6 Editorial Office replaced them with Crosstalk. Individual Groups began issuing their own reports late in 1956.

This series was MITRE collection AC 24.

 Series 13 Scientific and Engineering Computation Group Biweekly Reports 1953-1957 

Scope and Contents note

The Scientific and Engineering Computation Group provided computer engineering for Whirlwind I and developed a comprehensive system of service routines to simplify the process of coding for Whirlwind I.

The S & EC Group began issuing their own Biweekly Reports in June 1953, although earlier biweeklys may be found in the WWI Computer-Group 6345 Biweekly Reports.

The series is arranged in chronological order. This series was MITRE collection AC 26.

 Series 14 TX-0 and TX-2 Computer Memoranda 1955-1958 

Scope and Contents note

Designed and built at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory by Group 63 – Advance Development, the TX-0 and TX-2 experimental digital computers were constructed to check transistor circuitry and magnetic core memory. TX-2 was a research tool in scientific computations, data-handling, and real-time problems.

The Lincoln TX-2 computer was a general-purpose binary parallel machine with a code of 64 single-address instructions, and 64 index registers. The design provided for a random-access memory of 260,000 36-bit words. The instruction code includes the usual arithmetic and logic operations executed at a peak rate of 160,000 36-bit additions per second, with several interesting variants.

The series is arranged in chronological order. This series was MITRE collection AC 31. Reports and memoranda numbers start with 6M.

 Series 15 Microfilm of MITRE collection AC 133, Division 6 Engineering Drawings and Drawing Logbooks 

Scope and Contents note

The drawings in this series date from 1945 to 1959. They are numbered from 30000 to 89325. The early ones relate to the Whirlwind Computer (Project 6345). Other projects included are 6469 (Hydraulic), 6673 (Air Traffic Control), and the XD-1 Comuter.

The drawings were filmed by size (A, B, etc.) and then by number, and are separated into the following categories: Drawings, Parts Lists, Flow Diagrams, Obsolete and Reshots.

The series consists of 73 microfilm rolls of drawings, drawing log books, and microfilm work sheets. This series was MITRE collection AC 133.

 Series 16 Microfilm of MITRE Collection, AC 6, Whirlwind I Computer Records 

Scope and Contents note

This series consists of 35 reels of microfilm copies of Whirlwind Computer records, reports, and correspondence. Originals of records on the microfilm were donated by MITRE to the National Museum of American History, Archives Center. Prior to transfer by MITRE, the collection of materials was designated as MITRE collection AC 6. Digital copies(PDFs) were made by MITRE Corporation of items on the first 30 reels of the microfilm, and are stored in the MIT Libraries digital repository, DOME. Hard copies of some of the reports represented on the microfilm and by digital copies were also part of the technical reports holdings of the MIT Institute Archives and constitute series 17 to 24 of this collection.

This series was MITRE collection AC 136.

Digital objects of Whirlwind I Computer records microfilm, 1944-1959

 Series 17 Administrative Memoranda (A-series) 

 Series 18 Conference Notes (C-series) 

 Series 19 Engineering Notes (E-series) 

 Series 20 Limited Distribution Memoranda (L-series) 

 Series 21 Memoranda (M-series) 

 Series 22 Reports (R-series) 

 Series 23 Digital Computer Laboratory Memoranda 

 Series 24 Project Whirlwind Summary Reports 1946-1957 

 Series 25 Whirlwind Finding Aids 

Scope and Contents note

Finding aids were created in the 1960s through the 1980s by staff of the MITRE Corporate Archives after material had been transferred from Lincoln Laboratory.