Integrating Machine New Kinematic Principle by James Thomson (4 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. In one original VOLUME of Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 24 , 1876 pp. 262-275, Four historic papers in their original volume :pp262-275 1. On an Integrating Machine having a new Kinematic Principle James Thomson 2.On an instrument for calculating the integral of the product of two given functions William Thomson 3. Mechanical Integration of the Linear Differential Equations of the Second Order with Variable Coefficients William Thomson 4. Mechanical Integration of the general Linear Differential Equation of Any order with Variable Coefficients William Thomson all in :Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 24 ---pp. 262-275, 1876 Etra paostage wil be required because of weight. I would prefer to get full insurance , and use Fedex ( at least for IS shipping ) Please ask for photos.

1st Edition. FIRST EDITIONS (IN THREE VOLUMES) OF THE ONLY PUBLISHED DESCRIPTION (& ILLUSTRATIONS) BY WILLIAM THOMSON (Baron Kelvin) OF HIS HARMONIC ANALYZER, THE FIRST OPERATIONAL TIDE PREDICTOR. Six papers appear in three separate volumes. "Thomson's system [was] used regularly to collect tide information at a given location, analyze the amplitude and phase of a set of known frequencies to be found in the tide and then, based on the collected information to predict the tide at the point in future times.The machine was very successful and was adopted by many countries. The United States was using the Tide Predictor well into the 20th century" (Otnes, notes on Mechanical Fourier Analyzers, JOS, 34). Lord Kelvin noted "that four hours of crank turning would produce tidal predictions for one harbor for a full year" (ibid 37). Harmonic analysis, is a "mathematical procedure for describing and analyzing phenomena of a periodically recurrent nature. Many complex problems have been reduced to manageable terms by the technique of breaking complicated mathematical curves into sums of comparatively simple components" (Encyclopedia Britannica). The â??harmonic analyzer' was the first analog computer designed for general purpose applications. "Many physical phenomena are periodically recurrent in nature "such as sound waves, alternating electric currents, tides, and machine motions and vibrations. Such motions can be measured at a number of successive values of the independent variable, usually the time, and these data or a curve plotted from them will represent a function of that independent variable. Generally, the mathematical expression for the function will be unknown. However, with the periodic functions found in nature, the function can be expressed as the sum of a number of sine and cosine terms. Such a sum is known as a Fourier series (Joseph Fourier) and the determination of the coefficients of these terms is called harmonic analysis (EB). The large number of calculations needed were "best done by machines called harmonic (or spectrum) analyzers; [those capable of measuring] the relative amplitudes of sinusoidal components of a periodically recurrent function"; existent ones were incapable of doing so (EB). â??"The first step came in the early 1870s when James Thomson (William's brother) designed a â??mechanical integrator' capable of solving first order differential equations. In 1873, William Thomson (1st Baron Kelvin) then determined how to link several integrators together to solve equations of second degree or higher. With that knowledge, Thomson designed the first harmonic analyzer. "Based on the disk-globe-and-cylinder integrator" with "11 sets of mechanical integrators one for each harmonic to be measured" Thomson designed his harmonic analyzer (EB; Origins of Cyberspace 382). While invented in 1873, it was quickly followed in 1876 and 1879 by two larger machines built on similar principles - those are the machines described and illustrated in these three papers - and the machines used to collect tidal information for decades to come. CONDITION & DETAILS: London: Harrison & Sons. Complete. 3 vol. 4to. 8.75 x 5.5 inches. [4], ix, [566], 4. Stamp on title, first page of table of contents and verso; no exterior. In text illustrations throughout. Handsomely rebound in aged half-calf over marbled paper boards; 5 gilt-ruled bands at the spine with compartments gilt-tooled and the title, etc. in gilt as well. Very tightly and solidly bound. Clean and bright inside and out. Fine condition.

London, Taylor and Francis, 1876-79. Witout wrappers as three issues from "Proceedings of the Royal Society of London", Vol. 24, No. 167+ Vol. 27, No.187+ Vol. 28, No. 191. Pp. 250-344, pp. 284-408 a. pp. 103-232. Papers: In No. 167:pp. 262-265 (James Thomson), pp. 266-68, pp. 269-271, pp. 271-275. In No. 187: pp. 371-373. In No. 191: pp. 111-113 (W. Thomson). Titlepages to vols. 24, 27 a. 28 present. 2 papers with textillustrations. First appearance of all the 6 founding papers around the invention of the "Harmonic Analyzer" and with the mathematical theory for the differential analyzor, containing both the mathematical theories and the practical descriptions of the analyzer and further also having the paper by Lord Kelvin's brother (the first paper offered) in which the machinery is shown for the first time."A ball and disk integrator was the vital invention needed to build the FIRST AUTOMATIC ANALOG COMPUTING MACHINES. Lord kelvin used this integrator -devised for a planimeter in the 1860s by his brother, James Thomson - on two new kinds of analog computers: a harmonic analyzer and a tide predictor. he later specified a more general machine - a differential analyzer."(Eames in "A Computer Perspective")."The harmonic analyzer was used in conjunction with Thomson's tide predictor.The present paper ("Harmonic Analyzer") contains the first full description of the harmoniz analyzer, which was "designed rudimentally" (p. 371) in Thomson's "On an integrating machine having a new kinematic principle"(also offered here),James Thomson's integrator - "one of the first really workable integrating devices" (Williams 1985, 207) - served as the basis for other analog machines designed by William Thomson for solving simultaneous linear equations and integrating differential equations. Thomson first described such a machine, composed of several Thomson integrators connedted together, in his paper on "Mechanical integration of the linear differentialequations of the decond order." (also offred here)" however the "idea could then hardly be carried out, forone reason because an integrator, which is simply a variable- speed drive, could not then be buitl both accurate and capable of carrying sufficient load to move numerous mechanical parts" (Bush 193, 450). The full realization of Thomson's idea did not come until fifty years later, when Vannevar Bush invented the torque amplifier for use in his differential analyzer."(Hook and Norman).

In: Collected Papers in Physics and Engineering. Cambridge University Press 1912, pp. 452-7. Original blue cloth vg. Good ex-lib copy, owner signature to title page.Thomson's work on integrators marked a major step on the road from planimeter to analog computer.DW. Book.