Early Days of Computing at Manchester: Max Newman's Royal Society Project, 1946–1951

Abstract

Max Newman became Professor of Pure Mathematics at Manchester University in 1945, having led the outstandingly successful Colossus cryptanalytical project at Bletchley Park during the war. He obtained Royal Society funding to set up a Computing Machine Laboratory at Manchester to apply similar digital electronic technologies to the solution of as-yet unsolved problems in pure mathematics. But what kind of (special-purpose) digital computer was likely to be most suitable? Using new evidence, this article charts the progress of Newman's project in some detail, attempting for the first time to set Newman's Colossus-centric vision in the context of John von Neumann's IAS architecture. We contrast mathematical and engineering perspectives. Though Max Newman's original plans were not realized, innovative computer design at Manchester flourished in directions unforeseen by Newman. It was his 1946 initiative that led, somewhat indirectly, to significant computing milestones.