Argonne History
Computers: AVIDAC to Virtual Reality
Today, Argonne scientists can solve computational
problems once considered unsolvable. They can "walk into" experiments in a
computerized virtual reality environment where they can see, hear and
manipulate information with a mouse-like control wand. The computer's
development -- as with reactor technology -- was sped by defense needs during
World War II. ENIAC, containing 18,000 vacuum tubes, was built at the
University of Pennsylvania in 1946 and was soon used by Argonne researchers to
solve ballistic trajectory problems. Two years later, the discovery of the
transistor inaugurated an industrial revolution and made possible construction
of powerful computers. It was not until 1951, however, that the first
commercial transistor-driven computer, UNIVAC , was introduced for use in
business and science.
Digital to Analog
AVIDAC, Argonne's first digital
computer, began operation in January 1953. It was built by the Physics
Division for $250,000. Pictured is pioneer Argonne computer scientist
Jean F. Hall. (Click the image to see a larger photo.) |
Argonne physicists encountered mathematical problems of enormous
complexity. In 1949, since there were no computers available commercially, the
researchers built their own. The laboratory's first electronic digital
computer, referred to as an "electronic brain," began operation in January
1953. It was named AVIDAC and was used in reactor engineering and theoretical
physics research. Several months later, it was followed by ORACLE, a larger
computer system. Increasingly, almost exponentially, the need for better and
quicker handling of scientific data grew as the laboratory expanded. Advanced
computer facilities became a necessity. In 1957, Argonne scientists built
GEORGE, a large-scale digital computer that operated around the clock. A
digital IBM-704, then one of the world's largest computers, was installed. The
next year, PACE (Precision Analog Computing Equipment) was purchased. PACE,
unlike the digital computers, measured and simulated experimental conditions.
High-Speed Machines
By the early 1960s, Argonne was one of the biggest computing centers in
the Midwest. Its high-speed computers were used for design calculations to help
determine reactor design and for data analysis to interpret experiments by
measuring physical properties important, for example, in determining the
effects of small amounts of radiation in the human body. The computers allowed
physicists, biologists and chemists to compare experimental results and test
them against the validity of theoretical models.
GUS, which stood for GEORGE Unified System,
was based on upgrades to GEORGE, a large-scale digital computer Argonne built
in 1957 to operate around the clock. GUS provided memory for as many as seven
computers operating simultaneously. (Click the image to see a larger photo.) |
Difficulty keeping up with the demand for state-of-the-art computer
technology led to new and expanded programs. In 1963, construction began on a
new mathematical and computer facility, staffing in the Applied Mathematics
division was increased by 50 percent, and one of the world's most advanced
electronic computers, the CDC 3600, was purchased. In addition, GEORGE got a
new, and tripled, memory, and other upgrades, including a floating index point
(FLIP) that let GEORGE automatically handle numbers of widely varying sizes. It
would later "become" GUS (GEORGE Unified System) as part of the trend toward
"linking" computers; GUS provided memory for up to seven computers operating at
the same time. Throughout the decade, Argonne added new computer resources. Of
particular note was the design and development of a series of computer systems
called CHLOE, POLLY and ALICE. These systems were capable of analyzed data on
photographic film and were used in scanning spark chamber data for physics
research and fingerprint patterns.
Algorithms and Software
Software engineering was established as a laboratory discipline during
the 1970s and 1980s. PACKs, the first truly high-quality collections of
mathematical software, were designed and implemented under Argonne leadership.
EISPACK, in particular, set a new standard for reliability, efficiency and
accuracy. LINPACK, developed shortly thereafter, remains today in great demand
by industry and the scientific community and is widely used throughout the
world to evaluate new computer performance. By the early 1980s, Argonne was
internationally recognized as a world leader, not only in numerical software,
but in symbolic computation.
Researchers at the laboratory introduced new theorem-proving strategies
that enabled programs to "reason." Such programs, called "automated reasoning
programs," today are being used to design circuits, verify computer codes,
solve puzzles and prove theorems from mathematics and logic.
Parallel Computing
Anticipating the growing importance of parallel computing, Argonne
established the Advanced Computing Research Facility in 1984. For almost a
decade, the facility supported collaborative research with universities,
laboratories and industry on a variety of experimental parallel machines
including hypercubes and a locally developed shared-memory machine nicknamed
the Lemur. More recently, the laboratory established a High-Performance
Computing Research Facility featuring a massively parallel IBM Scalable
POWERparallel SP system. Researchers use the SP for a range of collaborative
studies from high-energy physics, propulsion, and data imaging to automotive
research and environmental restoration. To support such research, laboratory
scientists are developing toolkits for portable parallel programming. Argonne
computer scientists also spearheaded efforts to promote the use of MPI, a
standard interface for message passing on distributed-memory, shared-memory,
and networked computers. MPI permits supercomputer programs to be quickly
converted for easy use on parallel processing computers.
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