Vigilance and Vacuum Tubes: The Sage System, 1956-1963

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Recorded: Tuesday, May 19, 1998
Posted: Aug 27, 2013
Location: The Computer Museum History Center, Building 126, Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA
In 1963, the last of 22 SAGE command centers was completed by contractors IBM, Western Electric, The RAND Corporation, and Burroughs. At a cost of $8 billion (1964 dollars), this vastly complex technological system, an outgrowth of MIT Lincoln Labs' Whirlwind II computer, represented the state of the art in strategic doctrine and computer systems design. Each one of the 22 SAGE command centers used over 49,000 vacuum tubes, weighed 250 tons, and consumed 3,000,000 watts of power.
The SAGE system linked these command centers into a technopolitical "shield" against Soviet strategic bomber attack. From a stark social context of high Cold War tensions emerged impressive technical advances in hardware and software systems design, real-time control, and air traffic monitoring.
Advances such as the light gun, modems, duplex CPUs, multiprocessing, A/D and D/A conversion techniques, as well as networking arose as ancillary technologies of SAGE development. But did SAGE really work as advertised? Should we care? This lecture reflects on these questions, SAGE's context, and its technical spinoffs.
The lecture takes place in front of 400 square feet of actual SAGE hardware, including Weapons Director and Intercept Technician consoles! This equipment is from the last functioning SAGE center in North Bay, Ontario (Canada), decommissioned in 1982. The USAF SAGE Film "In Your Defense" will also be shown. "I like Ike" buttons optional.
The Speakers:
This lecture's speakers represent a variety of perspectives, from the history of technology, to hardware and software systems engineering:
Les Earnest: Senior Research Scientist Emeritus, Stanford University, Project Engineer and System Designer, SAGE system hardware. Founding President, Imagen Corporation; former Associate Chairman, Stanford University Computer Science Department; Executive Officer, Stanford AI Lab; Department Head, Information Systems Dept, MITRE Corporation; Member, Technical Staff, MIT Lincoln Laboratory... and inventor of the original (DEC-10/20) FINGER program!
James Wong: Computer Systems Engineer, Burroughs Corporation; Unisys Corporation; Project Engineer on SAGE system software for The RAND Corporation 1955-1963; Team Leader, System Development Corporation (SDC), Lincoln Laboratory, SAGE and Project "465-L." Mathematician and programmer for the IBM CPC, 701, and RAND Johnniac. Wong is retired and currently volunteers as an instructor in Mathematics with the Learning Disabled Program at Foothill College.
Paul Edwards: Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer, Program in Science, Technology & Society, Stanford University; author of "The Closed World: Computers and the Politics of Discourse in Cold War America." Edwards has also authored dozens of articles on the history of computing and has held visiting professorships at Stanford, Cornell, the University of Michigan and UC - Santa Cruz. His next book is entitled: "The World in a Machine: Computer Models, Data Networks, and Global Atmospheric Politics." Edwards will be making a 30-minute presentation.
This talk was sponsored by The Computer Museum History Center and Sun Microsystems.

Пікірлер: 37

@richclips 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for posting this, I found it fascinating, really lovely presentation by some great people, thank you :)

@Ramblin_DMC 7 жыл бұрын

Great presentation! Thank you for recording and sharing!

@blip1 8 жыл бұрын

One of these blockhouses that he is talking about is still standing on the old Richard's Gebaur airforce base about 30 minutes away from me

@uploadJ Жыл бұрын

There is one in the Ft. Custer business park near Battle Creek too.

@johnwilliamson467 2 жыл бұрын

I have a number of the special tubes used in Sage as well as the vallley and walman book Valley the man that pushed the Sage even though the semi conductor was a better choose in the this case. the tube make very fine audio amps . Sound rather enjoyable.

@uploadJ Жыл бұрын

6SN7 tubes?

@B1900pilot Жыл бұрын

My Dad worked on SAGE 1961-1966

@thetreblerebel 4 жыл бұрын

Humble and expensive beginnings of integrated ground control radar. Defense has always be the catalyst for innovation

@thetreblerebel 4 жыл бұрын

I imagine the "blue rooms" he was talking about was the ambient lighting not the glow of the screen, which I'm sure was in a green or yellowish color. The color blue was a mood enhancing, dont want stressed or agitated radar observers running a possible nuclear interception.

@thetreblerebel 4 жыл бұрын

The idea is still used in war rooms aboard subs and navy ships. And other possible tense environments in command and control

@bcwingit 5 жыл бұрын

Hancock Airforce Base still has the Direction and Combat blockhouses located in Syracuse NY.

@patmoore9474 3 жыл бұрын

I was stationed at Hancock Field. I worked on the Q7. I was there when it was shut down and help tear it out. Kind of sad actually.

@johnhopkins6260 4 жыл бұрын

still remember 485L... (moved on to 407L - tactical)

@michaelcox436 Жыл бұрын

COBOL compool? I'm not aware of any such thing, can anyone add to this?

@thefajitas9795 3 жыл бұрын

very cool!!

@LTJR. 3 жыл бұрын

A buddy told me that the cameras that were sent around the world to map it by balloon were controlled, well actually the servos in the cameras were controlled by Amplifiers and here is where I am a little shaky in the memory but it was either that the parts that comprised them later became the Macintosh tube amps, or That the Macintosh amplifiers were army surplus something like that but the more interesting thing that he told me was that they would do 100,000 K I guess necessary to physically move mechanical servos that far up in the sky? Anyone also hear that or something like?

@freemanz4051 2 жыл бұрын

Obviously not SOUND TECHs ffs!

@youreale 11 жыл бұрын

wow, love it

@skiracerxray 3 жыл бұрын

Operation Sky Shield Brits got through with jamming. Very interesting discussion

@billpugh58 2 жыл бұрын

We didn’t fly intercontinental distances though, the Vulcans flew off the coast and turned around and flew in at low altitudes impossible for Soviet aircraft of the time.

@thetreblerebel 4 жыл бұрын

All this, and it probably wouldn't have worked...that's early radar tech for ya..

@uploadJ Жыл бұрын

Okay Dunning-Kruger ...