Tide Predicting Machine
Tide Predicting Machine : A mechanical analog machine especially designed to handle the great quantity of constituent summations required in the harmonic method. William Ferrel's Maxima and Minima Tide Predictor (described in Manual of Tides, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Appendix 10, Report for 1883) was the first such machine used in the United States. Summing only 19 constituents, but giving direct readings of the predicted times and heights of the high and low waters, the Ferrel machine was used for the predictions of 1885 through 1914. A second machine, developed by Rollin A. Harris and E. G. Fischer and summing 37 constituents, was used for the predictions of 1912 through 1965 (described in Manual of Harmonic Analysis and Prediction of Tides by Paul Schureman, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Special Publication No. 98, 1958). Predictions are now prepared using an electronic digital computer
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