Difference between revisions of "Lincoln Laboratory"
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Several innovative early computers were created at Lincoln Laboratory. They include: | Several innovative early computers were created at Lincoln Laboratory. They include: | ||
| + | * [[Memory Test Computer]] - first computer with [[core memory]] | ||
* [[TX-0]] - supposedly the first [[transistor]] computer | * [[TX-0]] - supposedly the first [[transistor]] computer | ||
* [[TX-2]] | * [[TX-2]] | ||
Latest revision as of 14:38, 25 October 2025
Lincoln Laboratory, while formally a part of MIT, is effectively an independent research organization.
It is in some sense a descendant of the Radiation Laboratory, set up at MIT in WWII to do work on radar (although the only connection is that some people from the Rad Lab later worked at Lincoln). Lincoln was set up in 1951 to help build the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment, the US's first air defense system. It has been involved in research work useful for national defense, and more recently, other national priorities as well, ever since.
The Memory Test Computer was built there in 1952, by Group 62 and Group 63, to test the first core memory, intended for use in Whirlwind (which was used for a prototype of SAGE). The TX-0 computer was built at Lincoln Laboratory in 1955, to try out using transistors to build a computer. It was later followed by the TX-2, which was the host for Sketchpad.
Computers done at Lincoln
Several innovative early computers were created at Lincoln Laboratory. They include:
- Memory Test Computer - first computer with core memory
- TX-0 - supposedly the first transistor computer
- TX-2
- FX-1
- LINC - supposedly the first personal computer
Further reading
- Ed. Eva C. Freeman, MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Technology in the National Interest, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, 1995
- Ed. Alan A. Grometstein, MIT Lincoln Laboratory: Technology in Support of National Security, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, 2011
External links
- History
- About Lincoln Laboratory
- MIT Radiation Laboratory
- SAGE: Semi-Automatic Ground Environment Air Defense System
- A New Threat
- Lincoln Laboratory Origins
- Lincoln Laboratory Origins (part 2)
- The SAGE Air Defense System
- Early Digital Computing
- Early Digital Computing (part 2)
- Cape Cod SAGE Prototype
- Cape Cod SAGE Prototype (part 2)
- Early-Warning Radars
- Part 2: MIT Lincoln Laboratory develops UHF early-warning radar
- Part 3: Jug Handle, Boston Hill, and Texas Tower radars
- SAGE Transition - covers the creation of MITRE
- Reflections on SAGE
- New Callings
- MIT Lincoln Laboratory's History Book
- 60 Innovations Over Sixty Years: Highlights of Technology Advances at MIT Lincoln Laboratory
- Lincoln Laboratory - documents at Bitsavers
