View source for Archives:Calculating Power: Edwin L Harder and Analog Computing in the Electric Power Industry

== Abstract&nbsp;  ==

Profile of Edwin L.Harder, power engineer, inventor, builder of the Anacom computer, and former president of the American Federation of Information Processing Societies.&nbsp;Harder addressed many challenging and interesting problems of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s — especially in the regulation and control of power systems. Some of these problems involved the need for additional control as powergrids were interconnected and increased in scale; others concerned the regulation of new power machinery ([[Generators|generators]] and motors) and systems incorporating them (steel mills, paper mills, and so on).&nbsp;His most important contribution was to the Anacom computer. Although he did not conceive the machine, he made such fundamental contributions to the design and construction of the full-scale version and to the management of its operation for twenty years, there is no question that he&nbsp;was&nbsp;the&nbsp;person who made computing an important activity at Westinghouse. 

== Citation and Link to Full Profile  ==

Frederik Nebeker, "Calculating Power: Edwin L Harder and Analog Computing in the Electric Power Industry," in ''Sparks of Genius: Portraits of Electrical Engineering Excellence ''(Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Press, 1994), 159-200.&nbsp; 

[[Media:Chapter_6-Calculating_Power_%28Edwin_L._Harder%29.pdf|Media:Nebeker_Edwin_Harder.pdf]] 

[[Category:People_and_organizations]] [[Category:Engineers]] [[Category:Computing]] [[Category:Computers_and_information_processing]] [[Category:Computer_classes]] [[Category:Analog_computers]] [[Category:Power,_energy_&_industry_application|Category:Power,_energy_&amp;_industry_application]] [[Category:Power_systems]] [[Category:Power_grids]][[Category:News]]