Title :
Colossus: its origins and originators
Author :
Copeland, B. Jack
Author_Institution :
Canterbury Univ., Christchurch, New Zealand
Abstract :
The British Colossus computer was one of the most important tools in the wartime effort to break German codes. Based on interviews and on recently declassified documents, this article clarifies the roles played by Thomas Flowers, Alan Turing, William Tutte, and Max Newman in the events leading to the installation of the first Colossus at Bletchley Park, Britain´s wartime code-breaking establishment, in December 1943.
Keywords :
computers; history; Alan Turing; British Colossus computer; German code breaking; Max Newman; Thomas Flowers; William Tutte; history; special-purpose electronic computer; stored-program computer; vacuum tubes; Cryptography; Engines; Europe; Keyboards; Lifting equipment; Machine intelligence; Mathematics; Military computing; Pulse measurements; Teleprinting;
Journal_Title :
Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/MAHC.2004.26
