The new "Hail to the Historians" lunch series hosted by the Computer History Museum will kick off on Friday, June 13 at 12 noon. Bring your lunch and join us for a stimulating lecture.
The fourth computer in the world, CSIRAC (1949 – 1964) was designed and built in Australia. It made its first successful test run in November 1949. CSIRAC is derived from Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Automatic Computer. An international icon of the digital age, CSIRAC is the only intact first-generation computer surviving anywhere in the world.
David Demant, Senior Curator of Information and Communication at Museum Victoria in Australia, will join us for a lecture over lunch to discuss the history, restoration and significance of CSIRAC.
CSIRAC’s story began in 1936, when British mathematician Alan Turing described his idea for a computing machine capable of solving any numerical problem.
The first steps to building such a machine were undertaken during the Second World War (1939–45). Spurred on by military needs, British researchers built huge electro-mechanical calculators and electronic machines to decipher secret German codes.
At the same time in the United States, a series of enormous machines was constructed to solve complex mathematical problems, including calculating the trajectories of artillery shells.
After the war, scientists and engineers developed Turing’s concept into the idea of a stored-program computer. In this versatile machine, both programs and data could be entered as a digital code (0s and 1s), and the programs could make decisions, based upon the current state of the data, and draw upon further sub-programs if required.
The honor of building the first modern computer went to the British, when ‘Baby’ computed its first result on 21 June 1948, in Manchester.
During this period, a young English scientist in Sydney had already been planning the development of a machine to bring Australia into the computer age…
Where :
Computer History Museum
Hanh Auditorium
1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.
Mountain View, CA 94043
When
Friday, June 13, 2008
12 noon
- Bring your lunch, beverages will be provided
Registration
Free. Members should register early, as this event will sell out. Suggested donation of $10.00 at the door from non-members. To register or for more information on the event, please visit the Museum's website or call (650) 810-1005.
