Soviet Computing: Developmental Impulses

This paper describes the early period in the development of Soviet digital computers and R&D policy in this field (late 1940s – mid 1950s). The authors focus on the Soviet scientists and economic executives' awareness of the new types of computing machines, their initial application area – the Soviet Atomic Project, and the conditions in which the first computers were made. The Atomic Project leaders realized the value of the new machines but were planning to use only the limited number of them.