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Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator
Also 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
~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 EDSAC was finally shut down on 11 July 1958, having been superseded by EDSAC 2, which remained in use until 1965.