Analog Computer Museum

Electronic analog computers may seem to be "simple" or "like a toy computer", in fact they are powerful tools that were used during the 1950s and 1960s to design and test systems like ICBMs, supersonic aircraft and spacecraft. But the analog computer can be used to model any physical system that can be described by mathematical formulas, even more mundane ones from modeling the effects of pollution on the fish population in a river to fine tuning the suspension on a new car design. Analog computers will not only test a fixed design but also allows variables to be quickly changed to test "what if" conditions. By scaling time as an independent variable, physical processes that happen quickly can be stretched out, and processes that happen over a long period can be shortened to make the process easier to study. And it is very easy to study variables at any point in the program while it is running to find faults in the program design.