From computers the size of a large room to compact laptops, computers have changed dramatically since their invention around 70 years ago. While British firms made significant early contributions to the development of the computer, an overview of those contributions had been lacking, according to Stephen Kaisler, an adjunct professor of computer science. By launching the “Historical Computing Machine Series,” he has taken on the important task of filling this gap and documenting their contributions.
Kaisler recently published two new volumes in this series, “Pioneering Innovation in British Computer Systems” and “British Innovation in Early Computer Systems,” which explore British computer systems developed from the early 1950s through the mid-1990s. These systems had previously only been described by Professor Simon Lavington of England, a distinguished historian of early British computing.
“I taught a course in History of Computing in 2000. As I looked around, I found a few books on the major vendors–DEC, IBM, and UNIVAC–but I realized that many of the existing vendors, as well as some that had disappeared, were not described in much detail. It seemed they would be forgotten as there was little interest at the time in writing about them,” said Kaisler.
Kaisler shared that he intended to write five volumes covering various categories of machines, but when each reached approximately 1,000 pages, feedback from his publisher prompted him to divide them into 30 volumes. The academic book publisher Cambridge Scholars Publishing has now published eleven volumes, with another two in production.
The newest additions examine the technology of British computer systems and their role in computing history, focusing on the hardware and systems environment at various firms and their contributions to operating systems and programming languages.
“Once I complete the series, I hope to have documented it from the available literature and provided a resource for future researchers as well as a basis for History of Computing courses,” Kaisler stated.
In his courses at GW Engineering, Kaisler often asks students about relevant events in the history of computing, finding they’re unfamiliar with this topic even though it’s relatively recent. He routinely presents historical facts to provide students with some of the background that underlies the principles of the computer science field, and his books serve a similar purpose.
“My goal is to provide readers with an understanding of the technology and its historical development, the evolution of associated software systems, particularly operating systems and programming languages, and some examples of how individual computer systems influenced our society,” Kaisler said.
Kaisler’s extensive research not only provides a valuable resource for future scholars and educators but also ensures the history of pioneering British computer systems is preserved. His most recent volumes fill another important gap in this literature.