Hungary: Computers Behind the Iron Curtain Written by Gábor Képes
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Hungary: Computers behind the Iron Curtain Written by Gábor Képes After the 1956 Revolution,in People’s Republic of Hungary Stalinist dictatorship was followed by a political system that was ready for consolidation and opened towards the West. For this reason Hungary was sometimes called the ’happiest barracks of the Soviet camp’. Hungarian computer technology was both connected to the initiatives of the Eastern bloc countries, and also hurriedly following the West at the same time. By 1989 there were approximately 100,000 computers working in the country, and its computer technology was typically colourful and full of unique solutions. Gábor Képes is 1. Heyday of Cybernetics in Hungary Head of the De- partment of Every modern digital computer in the world is set up on the Technological principles (principle of the stored program) described by the Museology. Since Hungarian-born American mathematician, John von Neumann 2004 he has been (1903-1957). Neumann made his own concept available for the a curator of the whole world.The history of modern computer science started in computer science the 1940s and 50s - while the Second World War was ending the collection of the Hungarian Mu- World War II and the Cold War was starting. Computer research seum for Science and Technol- began in the Soviet bloc as well, although in the era of Stalinism ogy, and then from 2009 in the cybernetics was considered a “dangerous civil pseudoscience”. successor institute: Hungarian This point of view slowly changed starting in the second half of Museum for Science, Technology the 50’s. and Transport. He graduated in By the end of the 1950s the first working Hungarian computers 2004 from Eötvös Loránd Univer- began to appear, which also inspired and influenced professors sity, Faculty of Humanities (ELTE to teach cybernetics (László Kalmár in Szeged, László Kozma in BTK). He was Professor Iván Budapest). The With further development in the Soviet plans, Horváth’s student in information the first Hungarian electronic computer (M-3) was built by de- technology in the humanities, veloping further on a Soviet plan – and a high school teacher and was commissioned as an ex- called Mihály Kovács introduced it to his pupils. ecutive to the ELTE BTK Library The Hungarian Central Statistical Office also used modern com- Science Institute. puters and punch-card data processing systems. The company IBM was even allowed to be present in the country to help them set up these systems. Also participated in the project There were exactly five computers in operation in Hungary by are: the year 1960. At the beginning of the 1960s the first producers Dr. Mária Bezzeg, Ph.D., of Hungarian cybernetics introduced themselves and their prod- (Head of Department of Docu- ucts at the Budapest Expo to the inquiring and questioning audi- mentation in HMSTT) ence. Museologists: Csaba Alvári, Computer science as a discipline had finally started to take (Catalogue Store), Ottó Kovács shape behind the ‘Iron Curtain’ in the form of bigger universi- (Repertory) ties departments and research institutes that would fulfil politi- Photographer: Szilvia Rudó cal and economic needs. Translator: Péter Kollárik 1 Professor Kozma’s relay-system computer László Kozma (1902-1983) was an electrical engi- -based construction not yet based on the Neu- neer who basically dealt with telephone ex- mann-principle. The control program was changes, but by 1930s, he was also building cal- punched on a piece of celluloid plate used for culators while living in Belgium. During the lung-examinations. The output device of the World War he returned to computer was a cleverly Hungary, but because of his modified old Mercedes Elec- Jewish origins he was de- tra electric typewriter; the ported to the concentration results were printed by this. camp of Mauthausen. After Professor Kozma’s the war the Stalinist regime computer was the birth of prosecuted him (in a show computer technology in Hun- trial) and he spent several gary. The machine was of- years in prison. In the second fered by the professor him- half of the 1950s he was ap- self to the predecessor of the pointed to a professorship at The relay-system computer Hungarian Museum for Sci- the Budapest University of ence, Technology and Trans- Technology, where he built port. Since then it has been the first Hungarian electro-mechanical computer preserved in the Study-store of the Museum. For called MESZ-1 in 1958. (The abbreviation stands Hungarian people it has similar value to Konrad for Műegyetemi Számológép = The Technical Zuse’s computers in Deutsches Museum has for University Calculator). The machine was used for German visitors. educational purposes for ten years. It had a relay Magnetic drum of the first Hungarian electronic computer The Cybernetics Research Team of The Hungar- of the first Romanian computers called MECIPT- ian Academy of Sciences started the construction 1. M-3 worked in Budapest, then it was moved to of their electronic computer at the end of the the University of Szeged (to the legendary László 50’s; according to a contemporary newspaper Kalmár, pioneering figure in educating program- report the computer was put into operation on ming mathematicians), where (in 1968) it was 21st January, 1959. This computer called M-3 was discarded and its part were given out to the pro- made through developing the Soviet plans – fessorates. Some if its pieces have been success- these plans were seized by Sándor Varga, the fully preserved as a memento. head of the research team, who had been living in the Soviet Union for a while as an emigrant. The research team employed several young engi- neers in their twenties; they brought around these young engineers and started operating the machine in a creative way. Tungsram electron tubes were used in the M-3. Tungsram was a world-famous Hungarian electric bulb factory, widely known even in the first half of the 20th century. The capacity of the first magnetic drum of the M-3 was 1 kiloword (cca. 4 kilobytes). The computer has several magnetic drums and – un- der the leadership of a young colleague, Győző Kovács – magnetic drum controls were made for the computer, which was later also used for one The magnetic drum 2 The first Hungarian “artificial animal”: Katicabogár (Ladybird) The University of Szeged is the cradle of Hungar- follow after a while. Hungarian television was ian education of cybernetics and mathematics also born in the second half of the 50’s (1st may, programming. Professor 1957), so Ladybird became a László Kalmár (1905-1976) TV star in the early sixties.. constructed a logical machine Animal models like this here even in the second half are basically robots, the robotic of the 1950’s. Meanwhile his vacuum-cleaners and military young colleague, Dr. Dániel minesweeper robots were its Muszka, a mathematician, descendants as well. (1930-) made an animal The original Ladybird can model for modelling the Pav- be seen in Szeged – where a lovian conditional reflex. Katicabogár (Ladybird) permanent exhibition on infor- Katicabogár (Ladybird) from mation technology is to be Szeged could follow the torchlight, sensed if its opened –, the fully operational copy of the ma- dots had been hit (in a cases like this all move- chine, made by its original designer, can be seen ment are stopped) and it could be taught to rec- in the Study-store of our museum in Budapest. ognize the voice of a whistle, which he began to Filmstrip in the computer In the very beginning of the 60’s Hungary got several URAL-1 and URAL-2 electron tube com- puters from the Soviet Union too. This was the era when the first computer centres of the coun- try were established. This copy of the URAL-2 was produced and delivered to our country in 1962, and it was used by a computing centre in the building in- dustry. One of the curiosities of the computer is that is used film tape based punch card technol- ogy. On the punched tape the binary code is well discernible; the computing engineers of the time could read the program using only their very eyes. This is the only remaining copy of the URAL-2 in Hungary. The object has an accentu- ated place in the project called Inventing Europe. URAL 2 3 Cybernetic building kit – for pupils! At the end of the 1950’s a Piarist monk, also a He constructed cybernetic toys with his teacher of physics, Mihály Kovács (1916-2006) students using the discarded telephone ex- started teaching cybernetics in an ecclesiastic change components of the Hungarian Post Of- school (Budapest Piarist Grammar School) as a fice. E.g., playing cards machine, a mathematical facultative subject in afternoon education. In the problem solving machine, or a labyrinth game spring of 1959 he took his pupils to the Cyber- similar to Claude Shannon’s artificial mouse. netics Research In 1967 with Team, too, and in- one of his students, troduced the M-3 to Ferenc Woynarovich them. designed a cyber- At that time netic building kit; a the pupils from ec- small firm called clesiastic school Homecraft Coopera- were rather nega- tion of Buda District tively discriminated, and started produc- even their further ing it. Mikromat, this education proved to simple computer be more problem- model, containing atic. That’s why four relays, was the many of his students MIKROMAT country’s first com- emigrated to the puter technology West. However, grateful students living in the product that could be bought in a shop by any West sent him catalogues of articles of teaching: young people. these and other up-to-date literature helped Mi- hály Kovács to establish the country’s best re- pository of educational objects.