Reeves Electronic Analog Computer
Origins
### Origins

In the 1940s, [Reeves Instrument Corporation](/wiki/Reeves_Instrument_Corporation "Reeves Instrument Corporation") began developing ideas for a digital computation machine. They hired mathematician [Samuel Lubkin](/wiki/Samuel_Lubkin "Samuel Lubkin"), of the original team who designed the [UNIVAC](/wiki/UNIVAC "UNIVAC"), to lead the project. The original proposal was to build a machine called the REEVAC, which was to have been based on the design of the [EDVAC](/wiki/EDVAC "EDVAC") machine, which Lubkin had also done design work on. For unknown reasons, Reeves decided to scrap this approach, and Lubkin left the company for a job with the National Bureau of Standards (the US government organization later renamed the [National Institute of Standards and Technology](/wiki/National_Institute_of_Standards_and_Technology "National Institute of Standards and Technology")).

Reeves then decided to move forward with an analogue computer instead. In 1946, the [Office of Naval Research](/wiki/Office_of_Naval_Research "Office of Naval Research") launched a project code named [Project Cyclone](/wiki/Project_Cyclone "Project Cyclone") at Reeves to develop a general purpose analogue computing machine to further Naval objectives — it is unclear if this was the cause of Reeves's change of direction or a consequence. This was the beginning of a 20\-year partnership between Reeves and the Navy. For the entire 20\-year duration of Project Cyclone, Reeves would continually furnish the Navy with the most recent REAC model.


What is the Reeves Instrument Corporation?