Origins In the 1940s,
Reeves Instrument Corporation began developing ideas for a digital computation machine. They hired mathematician
Samuel Lubkin, of the original team who designed the
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 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). Reeves then decided to move forward with an analogue computer instead. In 1946, the
Office of Naval Research launched a project code named
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. Today the REAC is credited with proving that a general-purpose analog computer could be a viable commercial product. • Naval Air Missile Test Center (now the
Pacific Missile Test Center) •
United States Naval Research Laboratory •
RAND Corporation •
North American Aviation •
Applied Physics Laboratory •
University of Minnesota •
Ames Research Center at
NASA Uses REAC computers played a role in the development of many military projects, such as the
Ryan X-13 Vertijet. A REAC was the first computer at
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, and was instrumental in running simulations in development of the first
anti-radiation missile. It also was used in the Aeronautical Computer Laboratory at
Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster. ==Hardware==