Model K (calculator)
The Model K was an early 1-bit electromechanical binary adder built in November 1937[1] by Bell Labs scientist George Stibitz as a proof of concept, using scrap relays and metal strips from a tin can. The "K" in "Model K" came from "kitchen table", upon which he assembled it. It would later become the basis for the technology of the Model I Calculator.[2][3][4][5]
Stibitz created the Model K after being asked to investigate the magnetic behaviour of relays, realising the on & off conditions behaved the same way as digits in binary.[6]
It included batteries, two flashlight bulbs as output[6], and two switches made from metal from a tobacco can[1][7]. The reaction to the model in Bell Labs was amusement.[7][8]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Petzold, Charles (August 2, 2022). Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software. Microsoft Press. ISBN 978-0-13-790929-2.
- ↑ "Stibitz Model K Adder | 102627225 | Computer History Museum". www.computerhistory.org. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
- ↑ "George Robert Stibitz's Complex Number Calculator". Archived from the original on July 4, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
- ↑ ""Model K" Adder (replica) - CHM Revolution". www.computerhistory.org. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
- ↑ Irvine, M. M. (July 2001). "Early digital computers at Bell Telephone Laboratories" (pdf). IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 23 (3): 22–42. doi:10.1109/85.948904. ISSN 1058-6180.
- 1 2 Danton, Tim (July 29, 2025). The Computers that Made the World. Raspberry Pi Press. ISBN 978-1-916868-08-3.
- 1 2 Holmes, James D. J. (1972). Perspectives on electronic data processing; a book of readings. Internet Archive. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-661009-0.
- ↑ "The relay computers at Bell labs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 26, 2014.
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