[Yr7-10it] Early computers

[Colin SUTTON]

Hi all

I took these pictures at  London's fantastic Science Museum last week.
Neither are as old as the Karnak spreadsheet I posted a month or so ago (
http://www.4shared.com/photo/uhxMbAby/Karnak_-_Worlds_first_spreadsh.html)

** Pegasus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferranti_Pegasus) is the oldest
WORKING digital electronic computer in the world. It was a second gen
computer. Anyone know what gen we are at now? One of it's jobs was to
analyse metal fatigue in planes - the Comet tragedy. It was "mass-produced",
the Science Museum says 40, Wikipedia a slightly smaller number (2 models).

CSIRAC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSIRAC) IS the world's oldest valve
computer (first gen) at Melbourne Museum, but is not in working order.

I have (somewhere) a SILLIAC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SILLIAC)
Gestnered manual. Only an Australian would call a computer SILLIac!

** Babbage's Difference Engine No 2 (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Difference_engine) that we've ALL told our
students about over the years when discussing the history of computers. The
Science Museum actually BUILT it and ran, I believe, Ada Lovelace's
programs, although this article doesn't mention her. They did fix a few
minor errors in his design, but built it to 19th C technology standards.

Here's the link:
http://www.4shared.com/folder/4wzLUpu6/London_Science_Museum.html

Regards

COLIN
IT Monty SC - on LSL pending retirement