The Birth of a Revolutionary Machine
In the 1940s, the world of computing was in its infancy. Computers were massive, unreliable, and slow, capable of performing only simple calculations. However, a pioneering project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) would soon change the face of computing forever. This project was the Whirlwind computer, and its mastermind was a brilliant young engineer named Jay Wright Forrester.
Born in 1918 on a cattle ranch in Nebraska, Forrester had a knack for electrical engineering from a young age. He built his first electrical system, a wind-driven 12-volt setup using old car parts, while still in high school. After graduating, he enrolled at the University of Nebraska to study electrical engineering and later moved to MIT for graduate work on servomechanisms.
In 1944, the US Navy approached MIT‘s Servomechanisms Laboratory with a request to build an aerodynamic stability analyzer—essentially, a primitive flight simulator. Forrester, who was working at the lab at the time, was tasked with leading the project. Initially, the team planned to build a large analog computer for the job, but they soon realized that it would be too slow, inaccurate, and inflexible.
Forrester had heard about the digital computers being developed by pioneers like John Mauchly, J. Presper Eckert, and John von Neumann. After talking with some of these experts, he became convinced that a fast digital computer, built with electronic valves, was the solution to the Navy‘s problem. In early 1946, Forrester set up a new lab at MIT and started the Whirlwind project, with speed as the top priority.
The State of Computing in the 1940s
To understand the significance of the Whirlwind project, it‘s essential to consider the state of computing in the 1940s. At the time, computers were still in their early stages of development, and most were designed for specific military or scientific purposes.
One of the most famous computers of the era was the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), which was completed in 1945. The ENIAC was a massive machine, weighing 30 tons and containing over 17,000 vacuum tubes. It was designed to calculate artillery firing tables for the US Army, but it was not a stored-program computer—it had to be manually rewired for each new problem.
Another notable project was the EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer), designed by John von Neumann and others. The EDVAC introduced the concept of a stored-program computer, where instructions and data were stored in the same memory space. However, the EDVAC was not completed until 1952, several years after the Whirlwind project began.
In the UK, the Manchester Baby, developed at the University of Manchester, became the first stored-program computer to run a program in 1948. The Baby was a proof-of-concept machine, and its success led to the development of the Manchester Mark 1, which was completed in 1949.
These early computers were groundbreaking in their own ways, but they were still limited by their speed, reliability, and flexibility. The Whirlwind project aimed to address these limitations and create a computer that could perform real-time calculations for complex simulations.
Designing a High-Speed Wonder
At the heart of the Whirlwind‘s design was its bit-parallel architecture. Unlike bit-serial computers like the EDVAC, which processed data one bit at a time, the Whirlwind was designed to process an entire 16-bit word in a single operation. This approach promised much higher speeds, but it also required a lot more hardware.
Forrester and his team faced significant challenges in implementing a reliable vacuum tube-based system. Vacuum tubes were prone to failure, and with thousands of them in the Whirlwind, ensuring reliable operation was a daunting task. Forrester tackled this problem by studying the causes of tube failures and developing innovative solutions.
One key discovery was that the silicon added to the nickel cathodes, which made refining easier, was responsible for most tube failures. By using silicon-free nickel, Forrester was able to extend the average tube life from 500 hours to an astonishing 500,000 hours. The Whirlwind also featured a unique system that could test for imminent tube failures by altering the grid voltage on each tube, further enhancing the machine‘s reliability.
The Whirlwind‘s instruction set was designed for efficiency and flexibility. It featured a mix of single-address and multi-address instructions, allowing for complex operations to be performed in fewer steps. The computer also had a large set of registers, which could be used for temporary storage and quick access to frequently used data.
The Memory Breakthrough
One of the most significant innovations in the Whirlwind was its core memory system. Early computers relied on memory technologies like mercury delay lines and Williams tubes, which were slow, unreliable, and limited in capacity. Forrester recognized that a fast, reliable, and cost-effective memory solution was crucial to the success of the Whirlwind.
In 1949, Forrester had a breakthrough idea. He envisioned a 2D or 3D memory system that would allow direct access to each bit, rather than the serial recirculation used in delay lines and Williams tubes. Inspired by an article on magnetic materials as amplifiers and An Wang‘s pulse transfer controlling device, Forrester experimented with threading magnetic cores onto a grid of wires.
The resulting invention, known as coincident-current core memory, revolutionized computer memory. By applying half the current needed to flip a bit‘s polarity to one x-wire and one y-wire, only the core at the intersection of those wires would change state. This allowed direct, random access to any bit in the memory array.
Forrester and his team spent months refining the core memory design and testing its reliability. They worried that repeated exposure to half-currents might degrade the cores over time, but extensive testing proved that the system was stable and reliable. In 1953, the Whirlwind was upgraded with a new core memory that doubled its speed to 40,000 instructions per second (KIPS), improved reliability, and reduced operating costs.
The impact of core memory on the computing industry cannot be overstated. It became the dominant memory technology for computers until the 1970s, when semiconductor memory began to take over. Forrester patented the invention in 1956, and it was widely licensed to computer manufacturers around the world.
The Whirlwind‘s Firsts and Lasting Impact
The Whirlwind was a groundbreaking machine in many ways. It was the first computer capable of real-time computations, thanks to its high speed and reliability. It could add two 16-bit numbers in just 2 microseconds and multiply them in 20 microseconds. Despite its impressive performance, the Whirlwind was relatively compact, using only 4,000 vacuum tubes—a quarter of the number used in the less powerful ENIAC.
In addition to its core memory and high-speed operation, the Whirlwind was the first computer to feature a graphical display with a resolution of 256×256 dots. It also pioneered the use of a light pen, developed by Robert Everett, which allowed users to interact with the display by selecting items of interest. This innovation would later prove crucial in the Whirlwind‘s successor, the SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) air defense system.
The Whirlwind project also had a significant impact on the people involved. For many of the engineers and programmers, it was their first experience working on a large-scale, complex computing project. The skills and knowledge they gained would go on to shape their careers and influence the development of future computers.
One programmer, Jack Gilmore, recalled the excitement and challenges of working on the Whirlwind in an interview with the Computer History Museum:
"It was a very exciting time. We were doing things that had never been done before. We were working with a machine that was faster and more powerful than anything that had existed before. But it was also a very challenging time. We were constantly pushing the limits of what was possible, and there were always problems to be solved."
The Whirlwind‘s Role in SAGE
The Whirlwind‘s success caught the attention of the US Air Force, which was looking for a way to automate its air defense system. In the early 1950s, at the height of the Cold War, the threat of Soviet bomber attacks was a major concern. The Air Force needed a system that could quickly detect, track, and intercept enemy aircraft.
The result was the SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) project, which used Whirlwind technology to create a massive network of computers and radar stations across North America. SAGE was a groundbreaking achievement in its own right, becoming the first large-scale, real-time, computer-based command and control system.
Forrester and his team played a key role in the development of SAGE. They adapted the Whirlwind‘s design to create a new computer, the AN/FSQ-7, which formed the backbone of the SAGE system. Each SAGE center had two AN/FSQ-7 computers, which were paired for redundancy and could perform up to 75,000 instructions per second.
The SAGE system remained in operation until the 1980s, providing air defense for the United States and Canada. Its success demonstrated the potential of computer-based real-time control systems and laid the foundation for modern air traffic control, missile defense, and other critical infrastructure systems.
Jay Forrester‘s Legacy
After the Whirlwind and SAGE projects, Jay Forrester made a surprising career change. He became a professor at MIT‘s Sloan School of Management, where he applied his engineering mindset to the study of social and economic systems.
Forrester developed a new field called "system dynamics," which used computer simulations to model and analyze complex systems. He applied this approach to a wide range of problems, from urban decay to global sustainability. His work had a profound impact on the way we understand and manage complex systems, and it continues to influence fields like economics, ecology, and public policy.
Forrester‘s contributions to computing and system dynamics have been widely recognized. He received the IEEE Computer Pioneer Award in 1982, the National Medal of Technology in 1989, and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1979. In 1995, he was awarded the IEEE Medal of Honor, the highest award given by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
The Whirlwind‘s Place in History
The Whirlwind computer may not be as well-known as some of its contemporaries, like the ENIAC or the Manchester Baby, but its impact on the field of computing cannot be overstated. Through innovations like core memory, real-time operation, and graphical displays, the Whirlwind laid the foundation for the powerful, reliable, and interactive computers we use today.
Moreover, the Whirlwind project showcased the ingenuity and problem-solving skills of Jay Forrester and his team at MIT. Their work demonstrated the importance of collaboration between academia, government, and industry in driving technological progress and tackling complex challenges.
As we look back on the history of computing, the Whirlwind stands tall as a testament to the vision, dedication, and brilliance of the early pioneers who shaped our digital world. Its legacy endures not only in the machines we use every day but also in the spirit of innovation and exploration that continues to drive the field forward.
