How many calculations can the IBM do in hidden figures?

Unlocking the Secrets of IBM’s Computing Power in “Hidden Figures”

“Hidden Figures” isn’t just a movie; it’s a snapshot of a game-changing moment. We see NASA on the cusp of swapping human “computers” for hulking electronic brains, and right in the thick of it was the IBM 7090. This mainframe was a linchpin for the Mercury and Gemini missions, but how much computational muscle did it actually pack? Let’s dive in and find out.

The IBM 7090, which hit the scene in 1959, was the transistor-powered upgrade to the older, vacuum-tube-reliant IBM 709. Think of it like trading in your old gas-guzzler for a sleek, new hybrid. This switch to transistors meant the 7090 was way faster, more reliable, and didn’t suck up nearly as much power. A real win-win-win!

So, how fast are we talking? The IBM 7090 could crunch around 24,000 calculations every single second. To get a bit more specific, it could handle up to 229,000 additions or subtractions, or zip through 39,500 multiplications, or even tackle 32,700 divisions in that same blink of an eye. Its processing speed hovered around 100 Kflop/s (kilo floating-point operations per second), making it roughly six times quicker than its predecessor, the IBM 709. Plus, it boasted a basic memory cycle of just 2.18 microseconds. Not bad for a machine of its time!

Okay, a modern $2 microcontroller could probably leave the 7090 in the dust today, but back in the early ’60s, this was mind-blowing. Compared to teams of people hunched over mechanical calculators, the 7090 was like going from a horse-drawn carriage to a rocket ship. Sure, it cost a pretty penny – around $500,000 a month in today’s money – but the sheer speed and efficiency made it worth every cent.

Of course, as “Hidden Figures” shows, bringing in the IBM 7090 wasn’t all smooth sailing. Programmers had to learn languages like FORTRAN to talk to the machine, which was a huge leap from manual calculations. But the amazing women of West Computing, including Dorothy Vaughan, Katherine Goble Johnson, and Mary Jackson, stepped up to the plate. They mastered the new tech and made sure it worked seamlessly for NASA. Talk about unsung heroes!

But the IBM 7090 wasn’t just about raw speed. It also had a cool data channel architecture for input and output, kind of like a super early version of direct memory access I/O. This meant it could transfer data to things like tape drives and printers super efficiently.

Eventually, the IBM 7090 got an upgrade in the form of the IBM 7094, which was even faster and more capable. NASA actually used the 7094 to control the Mercury and Gemini space flights. Pretty cool, huh?

So, while we can’t put an exact number on how many calculations the IBM 7090 did for the missions in “Hidden Figures,” its ability to rip through tens of thousands of operations per second was a total game-changer. That power, combined with the smarts and adaptability of the women who programmed and ran the machine, is a big part of why we made it to space in those early days. It’s a story of both technological advancement and human ingenuity, working hand in hand.