The beginnings of the Manchester computer phenomenon: people and influences

The development of computers at the University of Manchester in the late 1940s is discussed. Scientific computation in Britain during and immediately after World War II is briefly described. Computers at the University were initially influenced by M.H.A. Newman and F.C. Williams. Biographies of these two men are given, and their wartime work is examined in the light of computer development at Manchester. The development at Manchester of the first prototype stored-program computer, the Manchester baby, is also discussed.<
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