Editing ILLIAC I (section)

==Computer==
The project was the brainchild of Ralph Meagher and [[Abraham H. Taub]], who both were associated with Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study before coming to the University of Illinois. The ILLIAC I became operational on September 1, 1952.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3FvELn2KiUYC&dq=ILLIAC+1952&pg=PA307|title=The Computer from Pascal to Von Neumann|last=Goldstine|first=Herman H.|date=1980-10-21|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0691023670|pages=307|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AsvSBQAAQBAJ&dq=ILLIAC+1952&pg=PA360|title=History of Computing in the Twentieth Century | last=Metropolis | first=Nicholas|date=2014-06-28|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=9781483296685|pages=360|language=en}}</ref> It was the second of two identical computers, the first of which was [[ORDVAC]], also built at the University of Illinois. These two machines were the first pair of machines to run the same instruction set.

ILLIAC I was based on the [[IAS machine]] [[Von Neumann architecture]] as described by mathematician [[John von Neumann]] in his influential ''[[First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC]]''. Unlike most computers of its era, the ILLIAC I and [[ORDVAC]] computers were twin copies of the same design, with [[software compatibility]].  The computer had 2,800 [[vacuum tube]]s, measured 10&nbsp;ft (3 m) by 2&nbsp;ft (0.6 m) by 8½ ft (2.6 m) (L×B×H), and weighed {{convert|4000|lb|ST MT}}.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Weik|first1=Martin H.|title=ILLIAC|url=http://www.ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL61-ibm7070.html#ILLIAC|website=www.ed-thelen.org|date=March 1961|series=A Third Survey of Domestic Electronic Digital Computing Systems}}</ref> ILLIAC I was very powerful for its time; in 1956, it had more computing power than all of [[Bell Labs|Bell Telephone Laboratories]].

Because the lifetime of the tubes within ILLIAC was about a year, the machine was shut down every day for "preventive maintenance" when older vacuum tubes would be replaced in order to increase reliability. Visiting scholars from Japan assisted in the design of the ILLIAC series of computers, and later developed the [[MUSASINO-1]] computer in Japan. ILLIAC I was retired in 1962, when the [[ILLIAC II]] became operational.