AN/FSQ-7: the computer that shaped the Cold War 1st Edition

I have read many, many books and manuscripts regarding Whirlwind and SAGE computers. I actually saw a SAGE installation, and still can't believe how engineers built an almost 200 ton computer that is comparable in speed to an Apple watch. You don't have to be a computer scientist to get through this great book. In fact, this book is so well written, you can learn the basics of computers. What's amazing is the SAGE and Whirlwind engineers had little "prior art" to steer them on the way to completion of the project. They had to invent most everything along the way. I read this book twice, paying attention to the citations on most every page.

This was a great book about the AN/FSQ-7. I remember visiting an installation of this computer back when I was in college. The book is great because it not only describes the computer but also the logic circuits involved in building it and the design decisions made. Given the limited technical resources to build a computer of this type. It was really an amazing engineering feet. The book was done very nicely.

The level of detail in this book is very satisfying. I almost think this book was written for me personally, such was the coverage of topics that interest me. I confess that I am an electrical engineer and possibly part of the target audience but anyone with an interest in how these systems worked will benefit from reading this work.

I worked as a computer maintenance tech on this system from 1981 until we shut it down at McChord AFB in 1983. Fascinating system. We used to give tours weekly, and I conducted many of those. This book brings back the memories.

Much too much detail for the average, younger layman. Great for some of us who grew up with this technology.

In the late 1950s, a sophisticated continental air defense system was developed by the United States Air Force to protect North America from incoming Soviet nuclear bombers. The name of the system was SAGE - the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment. SAGE was a massive technical complex of 23 concrete bunkers in the U.S. and (one) in Canada, each connected to local and distant radar stations and controlled by the largest computer system of its day.This computer, known by its military designation as the AN/FSQ-7, was built under contract by IBM with the assistance of a group at MIT and was based on the famed MIT Whirlwind computer--the first large-scale, real-time, digital electronic computer system. SAGE's debt to Whirlwind was clear and explicit--in fact, SAGE was often called "Whirlwind II." Much of the groundbreaking technology from Whirlwind was thus incorporated into the design of the AN/FSQ-7--light guns, magnetic core memory, real-time interactive displays, to name but a few.This deep connection brings forth several questions: How was the decision made to build SAGE? What are the `life histories' of the Whirlwind/SAGE computer systems and what was the precise technical legacy of Whirlwind to SAGE? How did SAGE and its AN/FSQ-7 main computer actually work? What were its weaknesses? What were the technical challenges that had to be overcome? How was it programmed? Were there spinoffs of the SAGE project?This wonderful book by Professor Bernd Ulmann answers these and many other questions and is a major new contribution to SAGE scholarship. In 14 concisely written chapters, Ulmann guides the reader through the entire technical hierarchy of the AN/FSQ-7, from its vacuum tube logic gates to its CPU, drum system, I/O system, display system, to SAGE software and how the "Q-7" was programmed.Ulmann is the first author to bring together hundreds of archival sources into a cogent narrative of the Whirlwind/SAGE technical legacy. I can't recommend this book highly enough to anyone interested in Cold War technology, historians of technology and computing, electrical engineers, computer architects and programmers. A cursory understanding of electronics and/or computing is helpful but not absolutely necessary.Ulmann's book is a tour de force of careful and meticulous research, certain to become a major reference work in the field for years to come.If you are curious about Cold War technology and SAGE's technical legacy into our own time, this book is a must-read!Dag SpicerSenior curatorComputer History Museum

Ich habe mir das Buch auf Grund einer Rezension auf Telepolis gekauft und gleich noch für einen Freund mitbestellt. Es ist wirklich klasse und bietet für den gealterten Computerfreak :-) einen schönen Rückblick auf die alten Zeiten und auf den Beginn der EDV. So hat die AN/FSQ-7 schon viele Techniken vorweg genommen, die man erst später vermutet hätte: Modem, Bildschirmstift, Grafik, etc. Es ist einfach toll sich diese Dinosaurier anzusehen.Ich war nur überrascht, dass das Buch in Englisch ist (in der Rezension hab ich das nicht wahrgenommen). Es ist aber mit einem gesunden technischen Englisch gut zu verstehen. Außerdem fand ich das Buch ziemlich teuer - habe es aber trotzdem 2x gekauft. Das spricht vielleicht auch für die Qualität.