Definition:Lehmer's Electromechanical Sieve

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 $\text X 85.82$.