How I Got My Analog Computer In 1962 - And Why Even Its Shortcomings Proved Educational

 

          Catalog image of the Analog Computer I ordered in July, 1962.

            Advertising blurb accompanying the image - with basics of operations.

In 1962, at the age of 16, one of the biggest, most rewarding finds I'd made was the Edmund Scientific Co. Catalog - sent from its headquarters in Barrington, NJ.:

I was already into astronomy, having received a Tasco 2.4" refractor for Christmas two years earlier. Now, I was looking to expand my knowledge and the Edmund catalog provided the perfect resource, especially in the wide variety of books:

I was snagged just looking at the offerings and immediately ordered the Edmund Star Finder which you could rotate to any date of the year to see what was visible at what time. As for the books, the Norton Star Atlas and 'Astronomy Made Simple' proved immensely valuable. Of course with all the offerings - including biology, I also ended up getting the Edmund microscope (with which I observed amoeba and paramecium) as well as purchasing a "Visible Woman" assembly kit, for 4.98:

It was only sometime later, I noticed the Edmund Analog computer in the same catalog and figured why not buy that? After all, I had enough allowance money saved up - and it wasn't like I was going out on dates every week. (More like once a month).  So I ordered it then after it arrived proceeded to assemble this beauty:

Now, by the time I made this order I was also into model rocketry. Remember this was 1962 and John Glenn had not long become the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth. So heck, I wanted to emulate - in a micro way- those early NASA flight. Major difference is Estes provided solid fuel rocket cartridges complete with thrusts etc.

 So I ordered several kits (and engines) from Estes Industries in Estes Park, Colorado, and proceeded to also buy solid fuel cartridges, fuses and launching platforms. These rockets were carefully assembled from the assorted plans that accompanied the kits:

The rocket launches became so successful they soon became a regular feature on special days at my high school, Mgsr. Edward Pace in Miami, FL.  Now, with the computer, I wondered how I might apply it to the rockets in some way. Alas, it turned out the applications were extremely limited given the analog computer only worked by analog comparisons, i.e. of two electric voltages. So basically, you set the potentiometer to say 3.0 v on one, then 2.0 v on the other then turned the 3rd until a reading of zero appeared and 6.0 v appeared as the answer.  Given the limits I found that the analog computer could be used to say, figure out whether a solid fuel (ZnS) cartridge could fit into the tubing of a BOCTOK Russian -insignia model, but not much more.

For doing the complex trig calculations, say to figure out the altitude and range I had to return to my old standby - my Mannheim slide rule:

The computer definitely was not a bust, as I could use it to learn basic computer assembly and applications as well as teach my younger siblings how a basic computer worked.  And hell, just assembling this gizmo was fun, and this was something like 24 years before I got my first actual digital computer, a Commodore 64.

Thanks to Edmund Scientific Co. I got a lot out of what many would regard as an elaborate toy today, just as I got a lot out of Edmund's other assorted products. Sure there were shortcomings with the analog computer in terms of what it could do, but the assembly and working assorted problems Edmund provided (in an accompanying booklet) were educational.