Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 2: Modern Era (1850–1949)
1927
Vannevar Bush constructs his Differential Analyser

Mentioned in the Cybernetic Serendipity catalog as an important development in the history of cybernetics, the Differential Analyser was an early mechanical computer, invented by the American engineer, used to solve complex mathematical problems. With rotating gears and shafts, it performed calculations and allowed researchers to model physical phenomena such as the motion of planets and the behavior of fluids. Bush’s invention had a significant impact on cybernetic devices and the development of modern computers.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
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People
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cybernetics, Technology and Art, Computing Machinery
Filed under
- Ideas
- mathematics, simulation
- Technologies
- analog computing, cybernetics, Differential Analyzer
- People
- Vannevar Bush
- Exhibitions
- Cybernetic Serendipity
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Echoes across time
- 1966 · Maughan S. Mason’s Traveling Show of Analog Computer Generated Works
- 1960 · Kurd Alsleben and Cord Passow Make Analog Computer Drawings
- 1979 · Frank J Malina Publishes Visual Art, Mathematics, and Computers
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Le Random podcast
- Timeline Ch 2—Modern Era with Kate Vass — listen with transcript on Le Random (20 Jul 2023, 58 min). Chapter 2’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify