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Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator
Sign in to saveAlso known as EDSAC
The Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) was an early British computer. Inspired by John von Neumann's seminal First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, the machine was constructed by Maurice Wilkes and his team at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory in England to provide a service to the university. EDSAC was the second electronic digital stored-program computer, after the Manchester Mark 1, to go into regular service.
Key facts
- Computer.name
- Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC)
- Computer.image
- EDSAC (19).jpg
- Computer.caption
- EDSAC I in June 1948
- Computer.developer
- Maurice Wilkes and his team at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory
- Computer.manufacturer
- University of Cambridge
- Computer.generation
- 1
- Computer.lifespan
- 1949–1958
- Computer.discontinued
- yes
- Computer.units_shipped
- 1
- Computer.os
- None
- Computer.power
- 11 kW
- Computer.cpu
- Derated thermionic valves
- Computer.memory
- 512 17-bit words, upgraded in 1952 to 1024 17-bit words
- Computer.memory_type
- temperature-stabilized mercury delay lines
- Computer.display
- Teleprinter
- Computer.input
- five-hole punched tape
- Computer.compatibility
- None
- Computer.successor
- EDSAC 2 and LEO I
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- EDSAC (25).jpg
Show 3 more facts
- Commons category
- EDSAC
- Commons gallery
- EDSAC
- inception
- 1949-05-06
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~17 min read
Article
15 sectionsContents
- Project and plan
- Technical overview
- Physical components
- Memory and instructions
- System software
- Programming technique
- Application software
- Applications of EDSAC
- Games
- Further developments
- EDSAC Replica Project
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
The Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) was an early British computer. Inspired by John von Neumann's seminal First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, the machine was constructed by Maurice Wilkes and his team at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory in England to provide a service to the university. EDSAC was the second electronic digital stored-program computer, after the Manchester Mark 1, to go into regular service.
Later the project was supported by J. Lyons & Co. Ltd., intending to develop a commercially applied computer and resulting in Lyons' development of the LEO I, based on the EDSAC design. Work on EDSAC started during 1947, and it ran its first programs on 6 May 1949, when it calculated a table of square numbers and a list of prime numbers. EDSAC was finally shut down on 11 July 1958, having been superseded by EDSAC 2, which remained in use until 1965.