🚀 go-pugleaf

There are many problems with "analog type solutions". In some cases we are
interested only in the character of the solution (is the system stable?
will it oscillate? is the output linear or exponential? etc.). There are
other applications where "analog" solution gives us required precision.
Many of these problems are too complex for digital computers and can be quite
satisfactorily solved on devices known as "analog computers".
I won't go into details, describing an analog computer, because everybody
knows or can look at a representative - analog musical synthesiser.
Similar devices are used in simulations of complex mechanical systems.

If you ever tried to solve differential equation, compute a sine wave or
exponential curve, you know, how difficult that is on a digital computer.
But if you use a capacitor and an inductor (or mass and spring) you get
second order differential equations, sine waves or exponentials with no
difficulties at all!

zdenek

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Men are four:
 He who knows and knows that he knows, he is wise - follow him;
 He who knows and knows not that he knows, he is asleep - wake him;
 He who knows not and knows that he knows not, he is simple - teach him;
 He who knows not and knows not that he knows not, he is a fool - shun him!

 zdenek@CS.COLUMBIA.EDU  or 	...!seismo!columbia!cs!zdenek
 Zdenek Radouch, 457 Computer Science, Columbia University,
 500 West 120th St., New York, NY 10027