Computing Atlas

How Computing Was Built
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EDSAC

Early Computer

A stored-program computer built by Maurice Wilkes and his team at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory, which ran its first programs, a table of squares and a list of primes, on 6 May 1949. EDSAC was the SECOND electronic digital stored-program computer to enter regular service, after the Manchester Mark 1 the previous month; it is distinguished from the earlier 1948 Manchester Baby this atlas already describes, which proved the stored-program principle but was built as a testbed rather than a working service. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Year
1949 2
Significance
One of the earliest computers to provide an ongoing computing service to a working research community rather than functioning as a one-off experimental testbed, a distinction historians treat as separate from and as significant as who ran a stored program first. 1
Status
Status
Discontinued 1
FAQs

Is EDSAC really the first computer to store programs?

One reference calls EDSAC the first stored-program computer, a priority claim; its first calculation ran on 6 May 1949.

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing says EDSAC was considered to be the first computer to store programs, and that it performed its first calculation on 6 May 1949 at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory. That wording is a claim of priority, so read it as one source's framing. The description on this page sets out where EDSAC sits among the early stored-program machines.
Connections

In Field

Computer Architecture, Fields
Source Wikipedia: EDSAC

Invented By

Maurice Wilkes, Pioneers

Maurice Wilkes led the EDSAC project at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory, running its first program in 1949.

Preceded By

Manchester Baby, Systems
Source Wikipedia: EDSAC

Predecessor Of

LEO (computer), Systems

LEO I, built for J. Lyons and Co by a team including EDSAC co-designer Maurice Wilkes, was modelled closely on the Cambridge EDSAC design.

Source Wikipedia: LEO (computer)
Sources
1. Wikipedia: EDSAC
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    ran its first programs on 6 May 1949
  • Lead sentence
    Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC) was an early British computer.
View the Source
2. Wikidata: EDSAC
  • Wikidata Q863565, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)
  • Wikidata Q863565 P571 (inception)
  • In Group: Early British Stored-Program Computers, Early British stored-program computer; EDSAC
View the Source
Wikipedia: LEO (computer)
Wikimedia FoundationPredecessor Of: LEO (computer), Lead section
Quote, Predecessor Of: LEO (computer), Lead section
The prototype LEO I was modelled closely on the Cambridge EDSAC.
View the Source
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