ABSTRACT
In 1946, barely two dozen people in all of the United States knew what an electronic digital computer was all about, and none of the bright boys were among those elite few. The technological foundation of pulse circuits made possible electronic digital computers. In ENIAC, the military had witnessed firsthand the promise of electronic digital computing and wanted to push forward the development edge with the hope of getting more of the same or better. Maybe by financing lectures to a handpicked audience, a few new gems might soon glitter into existence. The Moore School’s 48 lectures on going digital with electronic computers were telling for their absence of anything relating to gears. And everyone attending the Moore School lectures knew it and had come to witness, among other things, the first jarring screech in the slowdown. During the summer of 1946, the Whistle Factory was the site of the first-ever conference on electronic digital computing.
