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Librascope
Librascope was a Glendale, California, division of General Precision, Inc. (GPI). It was founded in 1937 by Lewis W. Imm to build and operate theater equipment, and acquired by General Precision in 1941. During World War II it worked on improving aircraft load balancing. Later, Librascope became a manufacturer of early digital computers sold in both the business and defense markets. It hired Stan Frankel, a Manhattan Project veteran and early ENIAC programmer, to design the LGP-30 desktop computer in 1956. In 1964 Librascope's Avionic Equipment Division at San Marcos has been shifted to the Aerospace Group, GPI as the West Coast facility of the Kearfott Division. Librascope was eventually purchased by Singer Corporation and moved into the manufacture of marine systems and land-based C3 (Command, Control, Communication) systems for the international defense industry. The company specialized in fire control systems for torpedoes, though they continued to work on a variety ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LGP-30
The LGP-30, standing for Librascope General Purpose and then Librascope General Precision, was an early off-the-shelf computer. It was manufactured by the Librascope company of Glendale, California (a division of General Precision Inc.), and sold and serviced by the Royal Precision Electronic Computer Company, a joint venture with the Royal McBee division of the Royal Typewriter Company. The LGP-30 was first manufactured in 1956, at a retail price of $47,000, . The LGP-30 was commonly referred to as a desk computer. Its height, width, and depth, excluding the typewriter shelf, was . It weighed about , and was mounted on sturdy casters which facilitated moving the unit. Design The primary design consultant for the Librascope computer was Stan Frankel, a Manhattan Project veteran and one of the first programmers of ENIAC. He designed a usable computer with a minimal amount of hardware. The single address instruction set had only 16 commands. Magnetic drum memory held the m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Precision Equipment
The General Precision Equipment Corporation was a major manufacturing company involved in the defense and space industries as well educational products and control devices for consumer goods. General Precision, Inc., was the principal operating subsidiary of General Precision Equipment Corp. headquartered in Tarrytown, New York. Librascope, founded in 1937 by Lewis W. Imm to build and operate theater equipment, was acquired by General Precision in 1941. During World War II it worked on improving aircraft load balancing. In the mid-1950s it went on to become an early digital computer manufacturer. In 1954 GPE purchased Griscom-Russell. In 1955 GPE Corporation purchased the Kearfott Company. In 1968 GPE Corporation was purchased by the Singer Company. In 1987 Kearfott was split, the Kearfott Guidance & Navigation Corporation was sold to the Astronautics Corporation of America Astronautics Corporation of America (ACA) was established in 1959 and is a US supplier, designer, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stan Frankel
Stanley Phillips Frankel (1919 – May, 1978) was an American computer scientist. He worked in the Manhattan Project and developed various computers as a consultant. Early life He was born in Los Angeles, attended graduate school at the University of Rochester, received his PhD in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and began his career as a post-doc student under J. Robert Oppenheimer at University of California, Berkeley in 1942. Career Frankel helped develop computational techniques used in the nuclear research taking place at the time, notably making some of the early calculations relating to the diffusion of neutrons in a critical assembly of uranium with Eldred Nelson. He joined the T (Theoretical) Division of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos in 1943. His wife Mary Frankel was also hired to work as a human computer in the T Division. While at Los Alamos, Frankel and Nelson organized a group of scientists' wives, including Mary, to perform som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Singer Corporation
Singer Corporation is an American manufacturer of consumer sewing machines, first established as I. M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac M. Singer with New York lawyer Edward C. Clark. Best known for its sewing machines, it was renamed Singer Manufacturing Company in 1865, then the Singer Company in 1963. It is based in La Vergne, Tennessee, near Nashville. Its first large factory for mass production was built in 1863 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. History Singer's original design was the first practical sewing machine for general domestic use. It incorporated the basic eye-pointed needle and lock stitch, developed by Elias Howe, who won a patent-infringement suit against Singer in 1854. Singer obtained in August 1851 for an improved sewing machine that included a circular feed wheel, thread controller, and power transmitted by gear wheels and shafting. Singer consolidated enough patents in the field to enable him to engage in mass production, and by 1860 his company was the la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
