Article ID: CBB869994431

Trevor Pearcey and the Development of CSIRAC—An Australian First-Generation Computer (2023)

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In November 1949, a team led by Trevor Pearcey and Maston Beard ran the first successful tests on their digital computer designated CSIR/CSIRO Mark 1, later to be called CSIRAC, at the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics, Sydney, Australia. It was part of the first generation of new electronic digital computers with stored programming built in the 1940s and the first computer in Australia. This article examines original documentation and retrospective articles to gain an insight into the provenance of ideas for the development of this significant machine. Correspondence shows that the team had limited access to overseas research but did maintain personal contacts with several international scientists, including Douglas Hartree. The early reports and later articles demonstrate that the Australian team combined their own knowledge and skills, with some input from overseas sources, to design and build an electronic digital computer in the 1940s.

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Article Sebastian K. Boell; Janet M. Toland (2023) Histories of Computing in Oceania. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing (pp. 6-10). unapi

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Authors & Contributors
Orchiston, Wayne
Wendt, Harry
Bougher, N.
Chesser, T.
Day, M. F. C.
Deane, J. F.
Journals
Historical Records of Australian Science
Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
IEEE Annals of the History of Computing
Annalen der Physik
Archive for History of Exact Sciences
Social Studies of Science
Publishers
Allen & Unwin
MIT Press
Princeton University Press
ETT Imprint
Halstead Press
Concepts
Radio astronomy
Military technology
Stars; stellar astronomy
Quantum mechanics
Biographies
Biology
People
Hartree, Douglas Rayner
Pearcey, Trevor
Bolton, John Gatenby
Fock, Vladimir A.
Galilei, Galileo
Gani, Joseph
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
20th century, late
17th century
18th century
20th century, early
Places
Australia
Sydney (Australia)
Great Britain
Italy
Tasmania (Australia)
Institutions
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) (Australia)
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