Title :
Arithmetic on the EDSAC
Author :
Wilkes, Maurice V.
Author_Institution :
Olivetti & Oracle Res. Lab., Cambridge, UK
Abstract :
The Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) was a serial binary computer with an ultrasonic delay memory. It was designed and built at the University of Cambridge in England. Work on the project started at the end of 1946, and the machine began to work in May 1949. The paper describes how the programmer handled fixed point arithmetic and emphasizes the merits of having a double length accumulator
Keywords :
calculating apparatus; digital arithmetic; electronic calculators; history; EDSAC; Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator; double length accumulator; fixed point arithmetic; serial binary computer; ultrasonic delay memory; Bandwidth; Buildings; Delay; Design engineering; Electron tubes; Fixed-point arithmetic; Programming profession; Relays; Storage automation; Vacuum technology;
Journal_Title :
Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE
