The Use of High Speed Vacuum Tube Devices for Calculating

There are many sorts of mathematical problems which require calculation by formulas which can readily be put in the form of iterative equations. Purely mechanical calculating devices can be devised to expedite the work. However, a great gain in the speed of the calculation can be obtained if the devices which are used employ electronic means for the performance of the calculation, because the speed of such devices can be made very much higher than that of any mechanical device. It is the purpose of this discussion to consider the speed of calculation and the advantages which may be obtained by the use of electronic circuits which are interconnected in such a way as to perform a number of multiplications, additions, subtractions or divisions in sequence, and which can therefore be used for the solution of difference equations. Since a sufficiently approximate solution of many differential equations can be had simply by solving an associated difference equation, it is to be expected that one of the chief fields of usefulness for an electronic computor would be found in the solution of differential equations.