University to Share Computer at M.I.T.

Plans for the construction of a $4,000,000 laboratory, to be built at M.I.T. by the International Business Machine Co., will allow Harvard and 22 other universities to share in the operation of the giant "704" computer. The device will be the center of the laboratory.

The machine will run 24 hours a day, with M.I.T. and I.B.M. using it eight hours apiece and the other universities dividing the remaining hours. Guy H. Orcutt, assistant professor of Economics and the University's representative on the advisory committee for the project, said that there "will certainly be many uses for the '704' at Harvard."

Orcutt added that the machine will supplement the Mark IV computer, presently being used at the University, since the "704" will be capable of far more extensive calculations than its predecessor.

The University will be interested at first in training its scientists to operate the complex mechanical mind, according to Orcutt. These men will then solve the University's problems in such fields as aerodynamics and atomic research, where high speed calculations can help explain the mysteries of sub-atomic particles.