2 ms·
Eniac in 1949(?) set a world record for computing digits of pi, something like 2000 digits in 70 hours. The previous record was a hand calculation of about 700
by throwaway81523 2y ago
Eniac in 1949(?) set a world record for computing digits of pi, something like 2000 digits in 70 hours. The previous record was a hand calculation of about 700 digits done by Shanks over a period of years in the 19th century. It turned out (per the Eniac and later calculations) that the hand calculation went wrong at around the 500th digit and I think was completely wrong after that.
I wonder if the code for that Eniac calculation is still around, and if the emulator can run it. That would be cool.
Added/update: per Wikipedia, in the late 1940's but before Eniac, some records (600 to 1100 digits) were set using electromechanical desk calculators. That was also when the error in Shanks' calculation was discovered.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_computation_of_%CF%80#The_age_of_electronic_computers_(from_1949_onwards) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_computation_of_%...