Manchester computer architectures, 1948-75

Abstract

Because of changes in computer technology and terminology, it is often difficult for present-day observers to judge the significance of early digital computer projects. This article follows some architectural themes of interest, as they evolved in the design of three innovative Manchester University computers: the Mark I, Atlas, and MU5. It traces themes such as operand address generation, instruction formats, and memory management during the period from 1948 to 1975. These themes are illustrated by a set of normalized diagrams that may aid further study of the original references.he purpose of this review is to explain in modern termi-T nology the structure of the principal digital computer designs to emerge from Manchester University in the period from 10% h180/Y1/0700 004$03 00 i 1993 IEEE

Entrepreneurial Discovery and Information Complexity in Knowledge-Intensive Industries

“…It is interesting to note that the name "transistor" was actually coined by John Pierce, who was one of Claude (Nebeker 1998a). As first published in Nature (Lavington 1993), the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), nicknamed the "Baby", was designed and built at the University of Manchester, and made its first successful run of a program on June 21, 1948 (Williams and Kilburn 1948). The SSEM was the first computer that could store not only data but any user program in electronic memory and process it at electronic speed (Williams and Kilburn 1949).…”

Cs++

“…By at least 1961 academics in the field referred to themselves as computer scientists [23] and single honours degree programmes were available from the mid-1960s onwards [27,34,23]. Computer science has continued to develop as a discipline and, although acceptance of the new discipline within the academy was not instant, it is now established as an important component of education at the university level.…”