Introduction: WEIZAC, Pekeris, and Applied Mathematics

Abstract

WEIZAC, the first electronic computer built at the Weizmann Institute in the recently established State of Israel, was operational between 1955 and 1963. The driving force behind the project was the applied mathematician Chaim Leib Pekeris, and the chief engineer of the project was Gerald Estrin, who had actively participated in the IAS computer project. For Pekeris the electronic computer was an instrument meant to serve the aims of a Zionist vision, in which applied science would play a fundamental role. WEIZAC would help to achieve technological progress in the young country and to enhance the skills of the local engineers. Pekeris paved the way to the insitutional approval of the project, mobilized financial resources, and put together a team of talented engineers and scientists, some of whom came to Israel especially for the task. The WEIZAC project, under his leadership, produced important scientific results and opened the way to the development of a very successful computer culture in Israel.