Programming Men and Machines. Changing Organisation in the Artillery Computations at Aberdeen Proving Ground (1916-1946)

After the First World War mathematics and the organisation of ballistic computations at Aberdeen Proving Ground changed considerably. This was the basis for the development of a number of computing aids that were constructed and used during the years 1920 to 1950. This article looks how the computational organisation forms and changes the instruments of calculation. After the differential analyzer relay-based machines were built by Bell Labs and, finally, the ENIAC, one of the first electronic computers, was built, to satisfy the need for computational power in ballistics during the second World War.

The 100th Anniversary of Fort Monmouth

April 1917 marks the 100th anniversary of the American entry into World War I. The war brought many changes to NJ, to include the creation of military bases like Fort Monmouth. First called Camp Little Silver, then Camp Alfred Vail, and finally Fort Monmouth, the base stood up in June 1917. Though it was supposed to be temporary, the base remained open until September 2011. The majority of personnel stationed at the base, employed by the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM), moved to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. There, the Fort Monmouth/CECOM archive is maintained to this day. In honor of what would have been the base’s 100th anniversary, we present a brief recap of the 1917 activities of the site, along with two early photographs from the archive.

Detection and Tracking of a Novel Genetically Tagged Biological Simulant in the Environment

ABSTRACTA variant ofBacillus thuringiensissubsp.kurstakicontaining a single, stable copy of a uniquely amplifiable DNA oligomer integrated into the genome for tracking the fate of biological agents in the environment was developed. The use of genetically tagged spores overcomes the ambiguity of discerning the test material from pre-existing environmental microflora or from previously released background material. In this study, we demonstrate the utility of the genetically “barcoded” simulant in a controlled indoor setting and in an outdoor release. In an ambient breeze tunnel test, spores deposited on tiles were reaerosolized and detected by real-time PCR at distances of 30 m from the point of deposition. Real-time PCR signals were inversely correlated with distance from the seeded tiles. An outdoor release of powdered spore simulant at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood, MD, was monitored from a distance by a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) laser. Over a 2-week period, an array of air sampling units collected samples were analyzed for the presence of viable spores and using barcode-specific real-time PCR assays. BarcodedB. thuringiensissubsp.kurstakispores were unambiguously identified on the day of the release, and viable material was recovered in a pattern consistent with the cloud track predicted by prevailing winds and by data tracks provided by the LIDAR system. Finally, the real-time PCR assays successfully differentiated barcodedB. thuringiensissubsp.kurstakispores from wild-type spores under field conditions.