A Few Historical Random Number Generators

GaltonsDice-web

A few historical random number generators. From top to bottom: Galton’s dice (capable of 24 digits instead of the usual 6), a Type 1390-B Random Noise Generator (runs on 6D4 tubes and was likely the device used for RAND Corp’s “A Million Random Digits”), and the first two iterations of random.org’s generators (both run on un-tuned radio noise fed into a computer).

Type1390-B_RandomNoiseGenerator-web

OriginalRandomOrgSetupWithRadio-web

RandomOrgRadioSetupV2-web

3 Replies to “A Few Historical Random Number Generators”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *