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WW2 German Computer Research

INRM

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I know the Germans made amazing leaps in the field of aircraft design, propulsion, rocketry, engineering and the like.

Did they venture into computers to any serious degree? Did they have any computational equipment that had the Allies beat?


INRM
 
INRM said:
I know the Germans made amazing leaps in the field of aircraft design, propulsion, rocketry, engineering and the like.

Did they venture into computers to any serious degree? Did they have any computational equipment that had the Allies beat?


INRM
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z3_(computer)

Technicaly turing complete. It saw some use but questionable if it had the impact of Colossus.
 
geni said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z3_(computer)

Technicaly turing complete. It saw some use but questionable if it had the impact of Colossus.
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z3_(computer)

Fixed your link :). It certainly was a computer in the modern sense. AFAIK, Zuse never really got the (financial) support to pursue this seriously.

On a sidenote, there's a replica on display at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany. If you're interested in anything technical and/or scientific, and have a spare day during a visit there, you should certainly visit it.
 
The story I heard (on a PBS documentary I can't recall on the history of computers) was that Zuse applied for funding, but was turned down because Germany was winning the war and the Reich wasn't interested in funding anything that couldn't be completed before the war was won. Typical (blessed) administrative drone thinking.

Beanbag
 
Beanbag said:
The story I heard (on a PBS documentary I can't recall on the history of computers) was that Zuse applied for funding, but was turned down because Germany was winning the war and the Reich wasn't interested in funding anything that couldn't be completed before the war was won. Typical (blessed) administrative drone thinking.

Beanbag
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've heard that story too. I've heard another one, though - Zuse was asked what could such a machine used for. He said, it could be used for important calculations in airplane design, allowing to create better planes. He was told that German airplanes are already the best, and it is not a priority to improve them.

Both of them have a taste of an urban legend (those silly bureaucrats, couldn't see what is so obvious to us in retrospect).
 
soikins said:
Yeah, I've heard that story too. I've heard another one, though - Zuse was asked what could such a machine used for. He said, it could be used for important calculations in airplane design, allowing to create better planes. He was told that German airplanes are already the best, and it is not a priority to improve them.

Both of them have a taste of an urban legend (those silly bureaucrats, couldn't see what is so obvious to us in retrospect).
Click to expand...

The problem is that computer wasn't designed as part of the war effort but with civilian aplications in mind (although it was built due to militry aplications) and construction of the Z4 did begin.

And there is the issue that computers really were not that useful given the cost. The Colossus only made sense within the context of the already significant efforts going into breaking german codes and no attempt was made to move beyond that use. For the most part pen and paper was enough to do the jobs required.
 
What does Turing Complete mean?

How did the Z3 compare to our computers such as ENIAC and such
 
The Zuse machines were at least partially mechanical too, using relays.
 
A Turing machine is a very simple model of computing which is used to analyze questions of computability. See Turing MachineWP.
 
Zep said:
The Zuse machines were at least partially mechanical too, using relays.
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A lot of the early computers were relay-based, like the Harvard Mark I and Mark II. Nothing wrong with them; they were probably more reliable than vacuum tubes, though a lot slower. I'm not aware of any logic circuit that can't be implemented in relays as well as in vacuum tubes or solid state devices.

Beanbag
 
geni,

Not to sound retarded, but what is a Universal Turing Machine?
 
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