Definition:Lehmer's Electromechanical Sieve
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Definition
Lehmer's electromechanical sieve is a device which was invented for the purpose of solving number theory problems, such as:
- determining the prime decomposition of integers
- determining whether an integer is prime.
It consists of:
- a mechanical assemblage of gearwheels
- photo detector
- an electronic amplifier.
It is currently located at the Computer History Museum, where its lot number is $\text X 85.82$.
Source of Name
This entry was named for Derrick Henry Lehmer.
Sources
- 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): '$..........$'
- 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): '$..........$'