München 2019 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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GP: Fachverband Geschichte der Physik

GP 10: Understanding tools from the recent past

GP 10.1: Hauptvortrag

Mittwoch, 20. März 2019, 11:15–12:00, HS 9

The computer as a tool of physics: how it all began - or not — •Arianna Borrelli — mecs, Leuphana University, Lüneburg, Germany

Today it is hard to find a branch of physics which can do without computers, but how did it all begin?

Historians of physics have so far not devoted much attention to how computers rose to the high status they now enjoy as a tool of physics, but case studies show that theirs was not the triumphal march one might assume a posteriori. After electronic programmable computers became available on the market in the 1950s, they were not always regarded as necessary tools by physicists, and their potential started being exploited only by individual scientists or groups in specific contexts, and not without resistance.

After a brief overview of recent research on the topic, I will present as an example of how computers entered physics a discussion of the search and acquisition of the first mainframe computer by CERN in the late 1950s. The study is based on the papers of Lew Kowarski, Director of Scientific and Technical Services at CERN since 1954. This material, preserved in the CERN Archive, provides information on the motives for acquiring a computer, on how Kowarski gathered information on the options available both from fellow physicists and from commercial firms, and on the final decision to acquire a Ferranti Mercury.