DESIGN OF A COMPUTER: The Control Data 6600

Thornton, J.E.; Cray, Seymour

Published by Scott, Foresman and Company, (Glenview, IL), 1970

About this Item

Scarce first edition of Thornton's detailed "case study" of the 6600 Computer, designed and developed for the Control Data Corporation in 1964 and widely "considered as the first supercomputer" (Etiemble). From 1964 to 1969, the CDC 6600 was the most powerful computer in the world, surpassing the IBM 7030 Stretch and inspiring IBM president Thomas Watson to write a famously exasperated memo ("I fail to understand why we have lost our industry leadership position by letting someone else offer the world's most powerful computer.") The 6600 housed built-in refrigeration, 100 miles of wiring, and more than 400,000 transistors, which sounds like a lot, and is. Over 100 were produced, with models purchased by the Livermore, Los Alamos, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, CERN, and the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory. As the fastest computer at the time, the 6600 became the benchmark for Moore's Law, which was described and published by Gordon Moore just a year after production began. Uncommon on the market and especially in this condition (almost all of the copies would have gone to libraries), an important contemporary history of this landmark computer. 9.25'' x 6.5''. Original gilt-lettered brown cloth. In original tan dust jacket. Black and white illustrations. 181, [1] pages. Minor edgewear to jacket, spine a bit sunned, touches of rubbing at folds. Else remarkably bright, clean, and tight. Seller Inventory # 50628

Bibliographic Details

Title: DESIGN OF A COMPUTER: The Control Data 6600

Publisher: Scott, Foresman and Company, (Glenview, IL)

Publication Date: 1970

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Fine in near fine jacket.

Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

Edition: First edition.