On Sun, Nov 26, 2017 at 09:13:03PM -0500, Jeffrey Brace via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
How would you explain the George Philbrick machine to an 8 year old? How do you explain what a vacuum tube actually does to an 8 year old?
I'll jump in since I do have some interest in the education side though this isn't one of my better areas of expertise. Others will probably correct. I'm not sure how much of this you already know. I think the important thing to explain is the difference between an analog and digital computer. An analog computer is a type of computer that can be used to solve certain forms of mathematical equations. It predates the digital computer. It is not general purpose like modern digital computer. An analog computer is not capable of doing things like word processing or even keeping your bank balance. It became obsolete when digital computers became cheap and fast enough that the analog computer no longer had any advantage for solving its type of problems. It had a number of disadvantages such as needing to be wired up for each problem. We have an later transistorized analog computer that is being restored. If its on display the Philbrick is an earlier version of it same as the Bendix to other computers on display. Would require someone with more knowledge to truly compare the capabilities of the Philbrick vs another analog computer to determine how equivalent they are. The car suspension model is a common description of what could be used for. Your designing your car and want to tune the ride before you actually build it. http://www.analogmuseum.org/english/examples/vehicle_simulation/ I'll admit I'm not sure what an 8 year old can/wants to understand. I can comment on the tube vs transistor if you haven't gotten enough input.