[NJARC] FORTRAN

Thu Apr 5 11:20:36 EDT 2007

Hi Bob,

We may *both* be right -- it looks like we're talking
about two different computers! I found the article --
Pop. Electrnics April 1963.

Hurricane Carla hit the Texas Gulf in Sept. 1961 and
flooded a Dow Chemical plant with seven feet of water.

This caused $6 million in damage, and a Burroughs 205
was written off as a "total loss."

A young Dow physicist who was a graduate of Texas A&I
arranged the deal. Dow gave Texas A&I the computer and
sea-soaked manuals with no guauarnatees. The students
found a pint of seawater in the magnetic memory drum!

A year to the day after Carla struck, the computer was
working again! It took thousands of hours of
drying-out, cleaning-up and repairs. Eventually, the
computer was made "fully operational." Fascinating....

That Burroughs would sure make a nice InfoAge
display....

Regards,

John

--- Robert Carroll <w2wg at comcast.net> wrote:

> Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> _______________________________________________
> You are right.  The old brain misfired.  It was
> indeed a Burroughs.  If you
> can find the article please let me know.
> 
> Bob W2WG
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: njarc-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:njarc-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
> On Behalf Of john ruccolo
> Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2007 11:53 PM
> To: New Jersey Antique Radio Club
> Subject: RE: [NJARC] FORTRAN
> 
> Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> _______________________________________________
> Hi Bob,
> 
> Hey! I think I have an old Popular Electronics
> magazine with that story in it! Let me see if I can
> find it. Actually, I think it was a Burroughs, not a
> UNIVAC. Or maybe this was *another* flood-damaged
> computer that was donated to a Univeristy. I'll
> check.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> John
> 
> --- Robert Carroll <w2wg at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> > Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> > _______________________________________________
> > Back around 1964, Ga Tech inherited a UNIVAC which
> > had been submerged in a
> > hurricane down in New Orleans.  EE students had
> the
> > fun task of cleaning out
> > the salt, repairing and restoring the machine.
> Those
> > who signed up for the
> > ALGOL class were permitted to submit one deck of
> > cards per day.  One mistake
> > and it was wait till tomorrow to resubmit.  That
> was
> > the beginning of the
> > end for the analog computer classes and labs.  The
> > Days of Wine and Roses.
> > 
> > Bob W2WG
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: njarc-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> > [mailto:njarc-bounces at mailman.qth.net]
> > On Behalf Of john ruccolo
> > Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2007 9:22 PM
> > To: New Jersey Antique Radio Club
> > Subject: Re: [NJARC] FORTRAN
> > 
> > Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> > _______________________________________________
> > Hi Al/Rob/Folks,
> > 
> > Fortran was of course derisively known as
> FORTRASH.
> > I
> > used it in college too. It's fine for math stuff,
> > not
> > much good for much else.
> > 
> > Not to get too technical, but the article doesn't
> > make
> > clear that the concept and design and build of a
> > *compiler* was the breakthrough, along with the
> idea
> > of high-level computer language. Things we take
> for
> > granted today, like stored-memory programs and
> > high-level computer languages, were cutting-edge
> > ideas
> > at one time.
> > 
> > I still have a box of latter-day punched cards out
> > in
> > the garage, marked SPRING '79. Those were the
> > days....
> > 
> > JR
> > 
> > 
> > --- Al Klase <al at ar88.net> wrote:
> > 
> > > Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Rob,
> > > 
> > > I thought you were younger than that.  It's
> > amazing
> > > any of us learned 
> > > anything that way.
> > > 
> > > Al
> > > 
> > > Robert Flory wrote:
> > > > Visit our web site - See http://www.njarc.org
> > > >
> _______________________________________________
> > > > Ahh, FORTRAN.  Brings back memories....
> > > >
> > > > In my freshman year at RPI, I participated in
> a
> > > ritual where I went to the
> > > > computer center(formerly the campus chapel)
> and
> > > made an offering of punched
> > > > cards.  If "god" was pleased, I received a
> large
> > > printout that had the
> > > > desired output.  If not, it said, "SYNTAX
> ERROR"
> > > and I would have to make
> > > > another offering.
> > > >
> > > >   
> > > 
> > > -- 
> > > Al Klase - N3FRQ
> > > Flemington, NJ
> > > http://www.skywaves.ar88.net/
> > > 
> > > 
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > NJARC mailing list
> > > NJARC at mailman.qth.net
> > > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/njarc
> > > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >  
> >
>
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> > 
> 
> 
> 
>  
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