<s>
The	O
MISTIC	B-Device
,	O
or	O
Michigan	O
State	O
Integral	O
Computer	O
,	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
computer	O
system	O
at	O
Michigan	O
State	O
University	O
and	O
was	O
built	O
by	O
its	O
students	O
,	O
faculty	O
and	O
staff	O
in	O
1957	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Powered	O
by	O
vacuum	O
tubes	O
,	O
its	O
design	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
ILLIAC	B-Device
,	O
the	O
supercomputer	O
built	O
at	O
University	O
of	O
Illinois	O
at	O
Urbana	O
–	O
Champaign	O
,	O
a	O
descendant	O
of	O
the	O
IAS	B-Device
architecture	O
developed	O
by	O
John	O
von	O
Neumann	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
interest	O
in	O
developing	O
a	O
computer	O
system	O
at	O
Michigan	O
State	O
University	O
(	O
MSU	O
)	O
began	O
several	O
years	O
before	O
MISTIC	B-Device
was	O
conceived	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
1955	O
,	O
Dr.	O
Frame	O
,	O
Dr.	O
Kenneth	O
Arnold	O
,	O
Dr.	O
John	O
Hofman	O
,	O
Francis	O
Martin	O
,	O
Dr.	O
George	O
Swenson	O
Jr.	O
,	O
Dr.	O
Lloyd	O
Turk	O
,	O
and	O
Dr.	O
Charles	O
Wells	O
traveled	O
to	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Illinois	O
to	O
examine	O
the	O
ILLIAC	B-Device
,	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
few	O
university-operated	O
digital	O
computers	O
of	O
its	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
John	O
Ryder	O
,	O
MSC	O
's	O
Dean	O
of	O
Engineering	O
,	O
former	O
head	O
of	O
Electrical	O
Engineering	O
at	O
University	O
of	O
Illinois	O
had	O
assisted	O
in	O
the	O
construction	O
of	O
the	O
ILLIAC	B-Device
,	O
estimated	O
that	O
MSC	O
could	O
build	O
their	O
ILLIAC	B-Device
equivalent	O
(	O
including	O
hiring	O
two	O
engineers	O
)	O
for	O
$	O
150,000	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Interests	O
in	O
designing	O
MISTIC	B-Device
as	O
the	O
ILLIAC	B-Device
computer	I-Device
model	O
at	O
MSU	O
was	O
gaining	O
attention	O
from	O
wide	O
areas	O
of	O
academia	O
within	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
,	O
even	O
as	O
far	O
as	O
Iowa	O
State	O
University	O
where	O
electrical	O
engineering	O
Professor	O
Dr.	O
Lawrence	O
Wayne	O
Von	O
Tersch	O
originated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
came	O
to	O
MSU	O
in	O
March	O
1956	O
with	O
the	O
interest	O
in	O
the	O
ILLIAC	B-Device
platform	O
due	O
to	O
its	O
large	O
amount	O
of	O
statistical	O
software	O
available	O
on	O
paper	O
tape	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
a	O
summer	O
of	O
study	O
of	O
the	O
ILLIAC	B-Device
in	O
Illinois	O
,	O
Dr.	O
</s>
<s>
Von	O
Tersch	O
and	O
three	O
of	O
his	O
graduate	O
students	O
began	O
building	O
MISTIC	B-Device
in	O
the	O
fall	O
of	O
1956	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
ILLIAC	B-Device
and	O
MISTIC	B-Device
were	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Institute	O
for	O
Advanced	O
Study	O
's	O
(	O
IAS	B-Device
)	O
computer	O
,	O
known	O
for	O
its	O
revolutionary	O
storage	O
of	O
data	O
and	O
instructions	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MISTIC	B-Device
and	O
IAS	B-Device
consisted	O
of	O
five	O
sections	O
—	O
input	O
,	O
memory	O
,	O
arithmetic	O
processing	O
,	O
control	O
,	O
and	O
output	O
—	O
setting	O
the	O
standard	O
for	O
at	O
least	O
twelve	O
other	O
computers	O
later	O
built	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MISTIC	B-Device
was	O
built	O
on	O
the	O
fifth	O
floor	O
,	O
Room	O
500	O
,	O
of	O
the	O
Electrical	O
Engineering	O
Building	O
,	O
which	O
today	O
is	O
the	O
MSU	O
Computer	O
Center	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Completed	O
in	O
the	O
fall	O
of	O
1957	O
,	O
the	O
MISTIC	B-Device
weighed	O
about	O
one	O
ton	O
,	O
filled	O
the	O
whole	O
room	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
capable	O
of	O
storing	O
1,024	O
40-bit	O
words	O
(	O
5	O
KB	O
)	O
in	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Departments	O
from	O
all	O
over	O
the	O
MSU	O
campus	O
utilized	O
the	O
MISTIC	B-Device
for	O
a	O
myriad	O
of	O
courses	O
and	O
activities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MISTIC	B-Device
was	O
the	O
introduction	O
of	O
digital	O
computing	O
to	O
the	O
university	O
,	O
first	O
step	O
in	O
the	O
vast	O
unexplored	O
field	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
vacuum-tube-based	O
MISTIC	B-Device
was	O
replaced	O
by	O
transistor-based	O
Control	O
Data	O
Corporation	O
(	O
CDC	O
)	O
3600	O
in	O
1963	O
,	O
CDC	O
6500	O
in	O
1968	O
,	O
CDC	O
Cyber	O
170-750	O
in	O
1979	O
and	O
many	O
more	O
down	O
the	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MISTIC	B-Device
proved	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
cornerstone	O
that	O
changed	O
the	O
way	O
faculty	O
and	O
students	O
perceived	O
computation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
university	O
has	O
owned	O
many	O
mainframes	O
since	O
MISTIC	B-Device
,	O
but	O
none	O
has	O
ever	O
had	O
as	O
magical	O
and	O
inspirational	O
effect	O
as	O
the	O
one	O
that	O
was	O
built	O
on	O
the	O
fifth	O
floor	O
of	O
the	O
Electrical	O
Engineering	O
building	O
,	O
now	O
the	O
Computer	O
Center	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Facts	O
from	O
the	O
exhibit	O
MISTIC	B-Device
Memories	O
:	O
50	O
Years	O
of	O
Computing	O
at	O
MSU	O
,	O
which	O
ran	O
from	O
September	O
29	O
,	O
2006	O
through	O
March	O
31	O
,	O
2007	O
at	O
the	O
Michigan	O
State	O
University	O
Museum	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
MISTIC	B-Device
contained	O
2,610	O
vacuum	O
tubes	O
for	O
processing	O
and	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Magnetic	O
core	O
memory	O
was	O
added	O
in	O
1960	O
,	O
increasing	O
the	O
memory	O
to	O
20K	O
,	O
roughly	O
four	O
times	O
what	O
the	O
MISTIC	B-Device
began	O
with	O
.	O
</s>
