The contribution of M.H.A. Newman and his mathematicians to the creation of the Manchester 'Baby'

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.