WEIZAC
Encyclopedia
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and one of the first large-scale, stored-program, electronic computers in the world.
It was built at the Weizmann Institute during 1954-1955, based on the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
(IAS) architecture developed by John von Neumann
John von Neumann
John von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields, including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, geometry, fluid dynamics, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis,...
. The WEIZAC was operational until December 29, 1963, and has been superseded by the GOLEM
Golem
In Jewish folklore, a golem is an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter. The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing....
.
As with all computers of its era, it was a one of a kind machine that could not exchange programs with other computers (even other IAS machine
IAS machine
The IAS machine was the first electronic computer built by the Institute for Advanced Study , in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. It is sometimes called the von Neuman machine, since the paper describing its design was edited by John von Neumann, a mathematics professor at both Princeton University...
s).
The beginning
Chaim L. Pekeris
Chaim Leib Pekeris was an Israeli-American physicist and mathematician. He made notable contributions to geophysics and the spectral theory of many-electron atoms, in particular the Helium atom. He was also one of the designers of the first computer in Israel, WEIZAC.-Biography:Pekeris was bon in...
, who worked at the IAS
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
at the time von Neumann's IAS machine
IAS machine
The IAS machine was the first electronic computer built by the Institute for Advanced Study , in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. It is sometimes called the von Neuman machine, since the paper describing its design was edited by John von Neumann, a mathematics professor at both Princeton University...
was being designed. Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
, Israel's future first president, asked Pekeris to establish the Department of Applied Mathematics at the Weizmann Institute, and Pekeris wanted to have a similar computer available there. Pekeris wanted it as means to solve Laplace’s tidal equations for the Earth's oceans, and also for the benefit of the entire scientific community of Israel, including the Defense Ministry.
In July 1947, an advisory committee for the Applied Mathematics Department discussed the plan to build the computer. Among the committee's members were Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
, who did not find the idea reasonable, and John von Neumann, who supported it. In one conversation, von Neumann was asked; "What will that tiny country do with an electric computer?" He responded, "Don’t worry about that problem. If nobody else uses the computer, Pekeris will use it full time!"
In the end, a decision was made to proceed with the plan. Chaim Weizmann assigned $50,000 for the project – 20% of the Weizmann Institute total budget.
In 1952, Gerald Estrin
Gerald Estrin
Prof. Gerald Estrin, an IEEE Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a member of the Board of Governors of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. Estrin received his B.S, M.S. and Ph.D...
, a research engineer from the von Neumann project, was chosen to lead the project. He came to Israel along with his wife, Thelma
Thelma Estrin
Thelma Estrin , Professor Emerita, Department of Computer Science, University of California at Los Angeles, is a computer scientist and engineer who has done pioneering work in the fields of expert systems and biomedical engineering...
, who was an electrical engineer and also involved in the project. They brought with them schematics, but no parts. Estrin later commented: "As I look back now, if we had systematically laid out a detailed plan of execution we would probably have aborted the project." After arriving, Estrin's impression was that besides Pekeris, other Israeli scientists thought it is ridiculous to build a computer in Israel.
To recruit skilled staff for the project, a newspaper advertisement was posted. Most of the applicants had no records of prior education because those were lost in the Holocaust or during immigration, but in Israel's budding technical community everyone knew or knew about everybody else. The WEIZAC project also provided an opportunity for mathematicians and engineers to move to Israel without sacrificing their professional careers.
Specifications
WEIZAC was an asynchronous computer operating on 40-bit words. Instructions consisted of 20-bits; an 8-bit instruction code and 12-bits for addressing. Punched paper tape was used for I/OInput/output
In computing, input/output, or I/O, refers to the communication between an information processing system , and the outside world, possibly a human, or another information processing system. Inputs are the signals or data received by the system, and outputs are the signals or data sent from it...
, and later, in 1958, magnetic tape
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...
. The memory was initially a magnetic drum containing 1,024 words, and was later replaced with a faster 4,096 word memory. In 1961 the memory was further expanded with two additional 4,096 word modules.
Usage
In late 1955, WEIZAC performed its first calculation. Subsequently it was used to study problems like worldwide changes in tideTide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
, earthquakes, atomic spectroscopy
Atomic spectroscopy
Atomic spectroscopy is the determination of elemental composition by its electromagnetic or mass spectrum. Atomic spectroscopy is closely related to other forms of spectroscopy. It can be divided by atomization source or by the type of spectroscopy used. In the latter case, the main division is...
, X-ray crystallography
X-ray crystallography
X-ray crystallography is a method of determining the arrangement of atoms within a crystal, in which a beam of X-rays strikes a crystal and causes the beam of light to spread into many specific directions. From the angles and intensities of these diffracted beams, a crystallographer can produce a...
, random walk
Random walk
A random walk, sometimes denoted RW, is a mathematical formalisation of a trajectory that consists of taking successive random steps. For example, the path traced by a molecule as it travels in a liquid or a gas, the search path of a foraging animal, the price of a fluctuating stock and the...
methods, numerical analysis
Numerical analysis
Numerical analysis is the study of algorithms that use numerical approximation for the problems of mathematical analysis ....
and more. The computer found out that there was an amphidromic point
Amphidromic point
An amphidromic point is a point within a tidal system where the tidal range is almost zero. The tidal range is zero at the amphidromic point and increases with distance from this point...
in the South Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
at which the tide does not change. It also calculated the relationship between a helium
Helium
Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and an atomic weight of 4.002602, which is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
nucleus and its two electrons and yielded results that were later experimentally confirmed by the Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory , is a United States national laboratory located in Upton, New York on Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base...
.
WEIZAC was kept constantly busy, and users (especially from other institutions) became increasingly frustrated with not being able to get computing time, and demanded more computers to become available. WEIZAC's success led to the recognition of the need for computers and digital technology in Israel, and ultimately, provided the foundation for Israel's computer and technology industries
Science and technology in Israel
Science and technology in Israel is one of the country's most developed sectors. The percentage of Israelis engaged in scientific and technological inquiry, and the amount spent on research and development in relation to gross domestic product , is amongst the highest in the world...
.
Recognition
On December 5, 2006, WEIZAC was recognized by the IEEE as a milestone in the history of electrical engineering and computing, and the team who built it were awarded the "WEIZAC Medal".External links
- Weizmann Institute Computer Studies – With a historical overview including the WEIZAC.
- IEEE History Center: WEIZAC Computer, 1955