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Just a Beginning: Computers and Celestial Mechanics in the Work of Wallace J

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Just a Beginning: Computers and Celestial Mechanics in the Work of Wallace J Just a Beginning: Computers and Celestial Mechanics in the work of Wallace J. Eckert by Allan Olley A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Institute for History and Philosophy of Science University of Toronto Copyright © 2011 by Allan Olley Abstract Just a Beginning: Computers and Celestial Mechanics in the work of Wallace J. Eckert Allan Olley Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Institute for History and Philosophy of Science University of Toronto 2011 This thesis details and analyzes the interaction between computers and science in a particular case. The case is the career of Wallace J. Eckert (1902-1971). Eckert was a professor of astronomy at Columbia University and scientific researcher for IBM. He has received some attention in the history of computing for his significant work in machine computation in the 1930s and 1940s and was the foremost expert on lunar theory for much of his life. First the existing secondary literature on the subject is discussed. Eckert's work has rarely been the focus of sustained historical scrutiny, but the question of the relation of science and the computer has received more scholarship in the history, philosophy and sociology of science. The main narrative of the thesis begins with the history of the various mathematical techniques and external aids to computation used over the course of the history of celestial mechanics. Having set the context, Eckert's early life and career is detailed up until 1945. Here, before the modern computer as such was developed, Eckert innovated by adapting IBM punched card machines to astronomical applications. Next Eckert's time as a scientific researcher employed by IBM after 1945 is detailed. Here he helped establish a culture of scientific research at IBM, demonstrated the value of IBM's products for science, aided in the development of new more complex machine designs including electronic systems and continued his own astronomical research. Eckert's major projects on electronic machines are described, especially those in lunar theory, with ii explanation of how his astronomical methods remained the same or were modified and expanded by later electronic machines and how he innovated with the machines at his disposal. In the conclusion, after summarizing later developments in celestial mechanics, broader questions about the modern computer's role in science are engaged. Continuity between pre and post computer methods is well illustrated by Eckert's work. His work also shows that while the computer was a force for change in celestial mechanics, the form of that change depended on the choices, resources and practices of the people using it. iii Dedication Dedicated to my parents without whose support this thesis might never have been written and the the memory of Herb Grosch who helped cement my interest in Wallace J. Eckert. Acknowledgements This dissertation is the result of many years of work and over these years I have received help and support from many quarters. I would first like to thank my interview subjects, Herbert Grosch, Harry F. Smith and Martin Gutzwiller for their cooperation and time. This thesis would have been poorer without their unique perspectives. The archival sources were vital to the work of this thesis. Therefore I must thank the IBM archives, the Charles Babbage Insitute, home of Wallace J. Eckert's papers and Special Collections of the University of North Carolina at Raleigh for access to their material and the aid of their research staff. My supervisor Craig Fraser's feedback and advice has shaped the course of this thesis immeasurably. The advice of Janis Langins and Jim Brown who were on my committee during the course of the writing of this thesis and for my specialist exam has also left its mark. Finally the commentary and participation of my defense committee, Paul Ceruzzi, Craig Fraser, Janis Langins, Margaret Morrison and Chen Pang Yeang, is greatly appreciated. I have also benefitted from innumerable conversations with people in the wider aca- demic community both at University of Toronto and beyond. In particular I have bene- fitted from my discussions with three fellow students, Isaac Record, Scott Campbell and Bruce Petrie. Over the years many more colleagues at UofT have offered advice and thoughts on my work. In the wider community, special mention goes to Frank da Cruz, maintainer of the \Computing at Columbia Timeline" website, who has been an important source of in- formation during this work, both on his website and in private correspondence. I also iv carried on a short but fruitful correspondence with Curtis Wilson on E. W. Brown and lunar theory. Academic conferences have been an important venue for discussion of my work. In particular the Society for History of Technology annual meetings provided ample oppor- tunity for discussion with interested peers. I would like to acknowledge here the advice and support of Joe November, Akera Atsushi, Chigusa Kita and Thomas Haigh. Again many more go unnamed. During the course of the research for this thesis I was supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada CGS Doctoral Fellowship for three years. I was also a recipient of the Ontario Graduate Scholarship during my Masters studies at University of Toronto when I began the research that led to this dissertation. I must also thank my parents who encourage and support me in everything I do. Their encouragement during the later days of the writing of this thesis is especially appreciated. In particular my mother's help proof reading various drafts of this thesis. All mistakes in this thesis remain my own. v Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 The Methods of Celestial Mechanics 12 2.1 Numerical Methods in Astronomy before Copernicus . 12 2.2 Copernicus to Newton . 15 2.3 The Eigthteenth Century: The Three-Body Problem . 23 2.4 New Planets, New Methods . 38 2.5 Lunar Theory After Laplace . 42 2.6 Machine Computation . 53 2.7 Other Early 20th Century Developments . 62 3 Eckert Before the Computer 69 3.1 Eckert's Early Life and Work . 69 3.2 Comrie and Early Developments in Punched Card Methods . 72 3.3 Eckert's Early Work with Punched Cards . 77 3.4 Origin and Work of the Thomas J. Watson Astronomical Computing Bureau 85 3.5 Dr. Eckert Goes to Washington . 105 3.6 Impact of Eckert's Work with Punched Card Machines . 110 4 Ever Onward - Eckert at IBM 115 4.1 Setting up the T. J. Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory . 116 vi 4.2 Development and use of the SSEC . 120 4.3 Projects for the SSEC . 132 4.4 Legacies of the SSEC . 136 4.5 Eckert as Promoter of New Computing Techniques . 140 4.6 Eckert's assistants at IBM . 145 4.7 Eckert as scientific advisor to IBM . 147 5 Eckert's Work on the SSEC 151 5.1 Direct Calculation of Brown's Lunar Theory . 151 5.2 Features of the SSEC Displayed in the Lunar Problem . 155 5.3 Comparison of the SSEC Results to Brown's Tables . 159 5.4 Compilation of the Improved Lunar Ephemeris . 164 5.5 Implications and Impact of Improved Lunar Ephemeris Calculations . 168 5.6 Numerical Integration of the Outer Planets . 172 5.7 Computing the Coordinates of the Outer Planets . 174 5.8 Features of the SSEC Displayed in the Outer Planets Integration . 185 5.9 Impact of the SSEC work: End of the Beginning . 191 6 Eckert's Later Work on Lunar Theory 194 6.1 Eckert's Continued Work on Airy's Method for Lunar Theory . 194 6.2 Eckert and The Hollow Moon Paradox . 212 6.3 Eckert's Refinements to Lunar Theory and the Mission to the Moon . 223 6.4 Eckert's Unfinished Lunar Theory . 228 7 Conclusion 240 7.1 Lunar Theory and Celestial Mechanics After Eckert . 242 7.2 Continuity and Revolution . 249 7.3 Negative Reactions to the Computer . 255 7.4 Eckert as Trader on the Computer Frontier . 257 vii 7.5 Computer Experiments . 260 7.6 After the Computer . 263 A Glossary 265 Bibliography 280 viii Chapter 1 Introduction Astronomy is perhaps the oldest of the exact sciences. Starting from the naked eye, the tools of the observational astronomer have multiplied over the course of history, from gnomon and simple compasses to massive telescopes, spectroscopes and radio antenna. However astronomical theory lacked this accretion of material culture for most of the discipline's history. The pen and paper seemed to be all that was needed for the the- oretician's craft. A closer inspection reveals that their work has adopted various aids to computation that augmented and changed the work. The invention of writing and mathematical notation itself was the first material aid to human computation, eventu- ally mathematicians wrote multiplication tables and tables of other functions. Tables of chords, sets of numbers for use in calculation, precursors of later trigonometric tables, appear in the classic work of ancient Greek astronomy Ptolemy's (c.90-c.160) Almagest, in the 2nd century of the Common Era (C.E.). (Ptolemy 1952, 21-24) Eventually me- chanical calculators would be used to ease the researchers labours and finally calculations would be fully automated with the advent of the modern computer. Since at least the fifth century B.C.E. in Seleucid Babylon, attempts have been made to predict, through calculations, the motion of the planets and the Moon. (Neugebauer 1962, 102) With the emergence of the Newtonian theory of gravity and calculus, calcu- 1 Chapter 1. Introduction 2 lations became based on inductively derived universal physical principles, rather than the attempt to find particular cyclic patterns in past observations.
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