Article ID: CBB909353193

Purchasing Power: Rivalry, Dissent, and Computing Strategy in Supercomputer Selection at Los Alamos (2017)

unapi

In the Mid-1960s, the Laboratory at Los Alamos, New Mexico, a center of scientific computing since the Manhattan Project, embarked on a search for a new supercomputer intended to fulfill the growing need for computing power in nuclear weapons development. Although depicted at Los Alamos in later years as a smooth transition between vendors, the selection process was a contentious negotiation among computing experts and users over their differing visions of computing and its place at Los Alamos. This article argues that changing technical and political demands on weapons design and Los Alamos's place in the rivalry between IBM and Control Data Corporation further complicated the selection process and challenged the traditional control and direction of Los Alamos's computing strategy. The result was the formation of a new computing division and a reframing of the debate over the long-standing management and purpose of computing at Los Alamos.

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB909353193/

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Authors & Contributors
Higuchi, Toshihiro
Cortada, James W.
Weiss, Linda
Tinn, Honghong
Baker, Kevin T.
Kevin Ruane
Concepts
Nuclear weapons; atomic weapons
Cold War
History of Computing
Technology and government
International Business Machines Corporation
Computer Simulation
Time Periods
20th century
21st century
20th century, late
20th century, early
Places
United States
Soviet Union
Great Britain
Russia
Europe
New Mexico (U.S.)
Institutions
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty; Partial Test Ban Treaty; Limited Test Ban Treaty (1963)
Club of Rome
United States Air Force (USAF)
National Health Service (Great Britain)
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