Alan Turing and His Contemporaries

Secret wartime projects in code-breaking, radar and ballistics produced a wealth of ideas and technologies that kick-started the development of digital computers. By 1955 computers produced by companies such as Ferranti, English Electric, Elliott Brothers and the British Tabulating Machine Co. had begun to appear in the market-place. The Information Age was dawning and Alan Turing and his contemporaries held centre stage. Their influence is still discernible deep down within today's hardware and software. This is a tribute not only to stars such as Tom Kilburn, Alan Turing, and Maurice Wilkes but to the many other scientists and engineers who made significant contributions to early computing during the period 1945-1955.