Abstract
In this article I offer a challenge to the usual account of the development of the Manchester Baby. In doing so, I focus on the contribution made to the project by the topologist Max Newman and other members of the Manchester Department of Mathematics. Based on a re-examination of the primary source material, I suggest that a much more significant role was played by mathematicians than is allowed for in the dominant discourse. I argue that there was a single computer-building project at Manchester in the years immediately following World War II which was conceived, led, funded, supplied and staffed by Newman supported by his long-time friend Patrick Blackett.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 27-39 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | BSHM Bulletin: Journal of the British Society for the History of Mathematics |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2009 |