Skip to main content
Ingenium Logo

You are leaving IngeniumCanada.org

✖


This link leads to an external website that Ingenium does not control. Please read the third-party’s privacy policies before entering personal information or conducting a transaction on their site.

Have questions? Review our Privacy Statement

Vous quittez IngeniumCanada.org

✖


Ce lien mène à un site Web externe qu'Ingenium ne contrôle pas. Veuillez lire les politiques de confidentialité des tiers avant de partager des renseignements personnels ou d'effectuer une transaction sur leur site.

Questions? Consultez notre Énoncé de confidentialité

Ingenium The Channel

Langue

  • Français
Search Toggle

Menu des liens rapides

  • Ingenium Locations
  • Shop
  • Donate
  • Join
Menu

Main Navigation

  • Browse
    • Categories
    • Media Types
    • Boards
    • Featured Stories
  • About
    • About The Channel
    • Content Partners

The man who built a computer out of Meccano parts

This article was originally written and submitted as part of a Canada 150 Project, the Innovation Storybook, to crowdsource stories of Canadian innovation with partners across Canada. The content has since been migrated to Ingenium’s Channel, a digital hub featuring curated content related to science, technology and innovation.

Share
Feb 28, 2016
Categories
Engineering & Technology
Media
Article
Profile picture for user Algonquin College
By: Algonquin college
Arthur Porter built one of the first analogue computers while a master’s student at the University of Manchester.
Arthur Porter built one of the first analogue computers while a master’s student at the University of Manchester.

Molly Gatt

Algonquin College Journalism Program

Arthur Porter was building computers a decade before it was cool. The first digital computer, the ENIAC, was built in 1945. But nine years before this, Porter had already built a differential analyser made of cheap Meccano parts.

Born in Ulverston, England in 1910, he was able to stay in school by gaining scholarships and grants. Porter went to the University of Manchester for his undergrad and master’s degrees. And with the help of his mentor, Douglas Hartree, Porter built one of the first analogue computers in 1934. He then went to America to receive his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He helped build the Rockefeller differential analyser, which was the most powerful computer at the time.

In 1949 Porter took a job working for Ferranti Canada. He worked on the DATAR system, which allowed a complete overall view of the area surrounding convoy ships. And in the 1950s’ he was a part of the North American initiative Project Lamp Light. Porter was an expert in data processing making him a key factor in the top secret air defence initiative.

He was never a teacher, but Porter did do a lot of work to boost the education of Canadians. He founded the biomedical programs at the University of Saskatchewan and at the University of Toronto. In 1969 he wrote Cybernetics Simplified to help anyone understand how computers worked, as they still weren’t widely used by the public at the time.

Porter died in 2010, at the age of 100. He was inducted into the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame in 2013.

The Cambridge differential analyzer. Source: University of Cambridge

Tags
Innovation Storybook
Author(s)
Profile picture for user Algonquin College
Algonquin college
Follow

Algonquin’s organizational philosophy is defined by its mission, vision and core values. The following are intended to serve as points of inspiration, carefully articulating our purpose

Mission: To transform hopes and dreams into lifelong success.

Vision: To be a global leader in personalized, digitally connected, experiential learning.

Our values: Caring, Integrity, Learning, Respect

https://www.algonquincollege.com/

More Stories by

Profile picture for user Algonquin College
Algonquin college
E.W.R. (Ned) Steacie.

Chemist’s war-time research leads to discovery

Related Stories

A pair of bare metal ejection seats with no cushions or padding are mounted on a plywood base, placed beside a few cardboard boxes. Behind the seats, a camouflage-green helicopter is partially visible.

How a pair of ejection seats from the Avro CF-105 Arrow survived

Overhead shot of the reconstructed instrument with the control surface opened up, showing various wires and electronic modules located beneath.

Uncovering the secrets of the world’s first synthesizer (Part II)

Spliced image, from left to right: a seismometer on mars, a heap of red rhubarb stalks with green leaves, a copper roof of the Canaian Parliament

3 Things you should know about marsquakes, the value of urine, and the chemistry of rhubarb

A spliced photo, from left to right: Shaun the Sheep in front of a model of ESA’s European Service Module, a top view into a red bucket containing thousands of light-brown, rod-shaped pellets, and a toddler wearing a wool hat and wool sweater holds a grownup’s finger.

3 things you should know about why wool keeps us warm, and about its surprising uses in the garden and in space.

A Woolery Machine Company runway de-icing device in action at Cologne-Wahn airport, Cologne, West Germany. Anon., “Ancillary Review – Flame-throwing – On Ice.” The Aeroplane and Commercial Aviation News, 28 February 1963, 29.

Come on, PB, light my fire. Try to set the ice on fire: A peek at the American firm Woolery Machine Company and some of its ideas and products

Three images side by side: a toilet bowl expelling a cloud of droplets, a gloved hand holding a test tube containing a small plant, and an infrared view of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io showing spots of volcanic activity covering the moon.

3 things you should know about flushing the toilet, artificial photosynthesis, and volcanic activity on Jupiter's moon

Headshots of 33 women, showing the diversity of women in AI and Robotics

Women in AI & Robotics: An interview with Founder and CEO, Sheila Beladinejad

Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Sergeant Bob Electro caught in the act of saluting the commanding officer of RCAF Station Clinton, Group Captain John Gordon Mathieson, Clinton, Ontario. Anon., “Six-Year-Old Sergeant.” The North Bay Nugget, 7 January 1963, 15.

Dōmo arigatō, gunsō Electro, mata au hi made: The electronic adventures of Royal Canadian Air Force / Canadian Armed Forces Sergeant Bob Electro

The 10-inch flight impact simulator of the National Research Council of Canada at some point during its long career, Uplands / Ottawa, Ontario. NRC.

A great Canadian success story you should know about: A brief look at the National Research Council of Canada flight impact simulators donated to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Part 3

The 3.75- / 3.5-inch flight impact simulator of the National Research Council of Canada at some point during its long career, Uplands / Ottawa, Ontario. NRC.

A great Canadian success story you should know about: A brief look at the National Research Council of Canada flight impact simulators donated to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Part 2

The 10-inch flight impact simulator of the National Research Council of Canada at some point during its long career, Uplands / Ottawa, Ontario. NRC.

A great Canadian success story you should know about: A brief look at the National Research Council of Canada flight impact simulators donated to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Part 1

A rear view of a person wearing a yellow coat and backpack in winter, a close-up view of bright red poinsettias with small yellow central flowers.

Two things you should know about the science of wind chill, and the Orion spacecraft's selfies.

Footer

About The Channel

The Channel

Contact Us

Ingenium
P.O. Box 9724, Station T
Ottawa ON K1G 5A3
Canada

613-991-3044
1-866-442-4416
contact@IngeniumCanada.org
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Channel

    • Channel Home
    • About the Channel
    • Content Partners
  • Visit

    • Online Resources for Science at Home
    • Canada Agriculture and Food Museum
    • Canada Aviation and Space Museum
    • Canada Science and Technology Museum
    • Ingenium Centre
  • Ingenium

    • Ingenium Home
    • About Ingenium
    • The Foundation
  • For Media

    • Newsroom
    • Awards

Connect with us

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest Ingenium news straight to your inbox!

Sign Up

Legal Bits

Ingenium Privacy Statement

© 2023 Ingenium

Symbol of the Government of Canada
  • Browse
    • Categories
    • Media Types
    • Boards
    • Featured Stories
  • About
    • About The Channel
    • Content Partners