British computer pioneers in Cambridge and at the Lyons catering company (HIS 08)

  • Day and time: Thursday 14:00 - 15:00
    Weekly
  • Length of course: 1 term. Autumn (4 Weeks)
  • Number of places: 15
  • Start date: 20 November 2025
  • Description:

    A four week course introducing some of the people who worked on two early British Computers, EDSAC and LEO. We will consider the environment which gave rise to these two ground breaking projects and see why this led to engineers from the Lyons catering company working with the Mathematics Department in Cambridge. We will look at the background and experiences of people working in jobs which had never existed before. The course will use material from the archives of the Centre for Computing History (CCH) including documents, objects in the museum, recorded interviews and film. The 4th and final week will be an optional visit to CCH (entry £10 for the over 60s).

  • Format: Lecture

  • Tutor: Ruth Dunn
  • I am a volunteer at the Centre for Computing History, reading my way through the notebooks of one of Britain's first computer engineers.


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