Remembering Ferranti Atlas: The U K's First Supercomputer

[webfact]

Remembering Ferranti Atlas: the UK’s first supercomputer

Fifty years ago today, the the U.K.'s first supercomputer, the Ferranti Atlas, was switched on. For a time, it was the most powerful computer in the world, and some claimed that when it first arrived in 1962, it roughly doubled the U.K.’s scientific computing capability.

Many of the software concepts Atlas pioneered are still in use today—in particular, virtual memory and multi-tasking, which enable the computer to work on multiple programs at once. The program controlling this, called Atlas supervisor, has been described as the “most significant breakthrough in the history of operating systems," with virtual memory the most widely used computer design development of the past 50 years. Find out more about the Ferranti Atlas in this short film we produced for the 50th anniversary, or on the Europe blog: http://goo.gl/XhLsf

-- Google Europe Blog 2012-12-08

[Estrada]

The First Ferranti Atlas Computer was developed at Manchester University in 1962. My Uncle ran the first Commercial Mainframe Supercomputer for the Metropolitan Police at Scotland Yard in 1963 to do the payroll. As I recall, it was the size of a large room and took around 3 days to complete the salary calculations. In contrast these days your mobile phone is far more powerful. About time someone pointed out to the Americans that they didn't invent the first supercomputer in 1964.

[rotary]

The First Ferranti Atlas Computer was developed at Manchester University in 1962. My Uncle ran the first Commercial Mainframe Supercomputer for the Metropolitan Police at Scotland Yard in 1963 to do the payroll. As I recall, it was the size of a large room and took around 3 days to complete the salary calculations. In contrast these days your mobile phone is far more powerful. About time someone pointed out to the Americans that they didn't invent the first supercomputer in 1964.

I agree.

[Narratio]

But then they'd start arguing about what defines 'super' and then somebody would reply in a sarcastic tone asking exactly what passport Turring held and then we'd devolve into glue and bonding chemistry used on steel and plastic tapes, and why Babbage never went west and... that could be a long discussion.

It's a neat film though.