Abstract

Mechanical Brain Era

Louis N. Ridenour, dean of the Graduate College, University of Illinois, that they are standing on the threshold of the Second Industrial Revolution. In an article in the May issue of "Fortune," Ridenour explained the significance of mechanical brains or automatic digital computers. Heretofore, he said, one has had to control machines by the regrettable device of inserting a man in a steam shovel, for instance. Thanks to the new electronic super-gadgets, this era, the Era of Inserted Man, is about to end. The automatic digital computers will take over. The a.d.c's can do arithmetic a thousand times faster than men. They can remember what answer they got, compare it with the answer to another calculation, decide what to do next, do it and type out their conclusions on a suitably modified teletypewriter.