Title
MANIAC Electrostatic Memory and Williams Tube
Catalog Number
XD214.80
Type
Physical object
Description
Label Copy: From the Maniac computer, built in 1949 and functioning at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory until 1962. This Williams tube Electrostatic memory was one of 40, each containing one memory bit. Maniac was an asynchronous machine throughout the 1960s was its adoption of the Garnder-Denver automated wirewrapping machine, a sophisticated device that made the thousands of interconnections required in a computer's backplane assembly rapidly, automatically, and with nearly zero errors. This reliable system of interconnected sockets in turn allowed the simple "Flip-Chip" circuit board to be the building block of a computer, allowing for mass production and ease of maintenance.
Date
1949
Manufacturer
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory (LASL)
Place Manufactured
U.S.
Dimensions
2 Boxes: 17 x 8 x 15; 24 x 12 x 12 in.
Category
Memory/electrostatic
Subject
Electronic; CRT
Credit
Gift of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory