Trevor Pearcey and the development of CSIRAC – An Australian first-generation computer

Abstract

In November 1949, a team led by Trevor Pearcey and Maston Beard ran the first successful tests on their digital computer designated CSIR/CSIRO Mark 1, later to be called CSIRAC, at the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics, Sydney, Australia. It was part of the first generation of new electronic digital computers with stored programming built in the 1940s and the first computer in Australia. This article examines original documentation and retrospective articles to gain an insight into the provenance of ideas for the development of this significant machine. Correspondence shows that the team had limited access to overseas research but did maintain personal contacts with several international scientists, including Douglas Hartree. The early reports and later articles demonstrate that the Australian team combined their own knowledge and skills, with some input from overseas sources, to design and build an electronic digital computer in the 1940s.