History of Computing

For many years I have been interested in the history of (digital) computing. Most of my investigations have related to the period that started with Charles Babbage's work in the 1830s, up to about 1950 when the first "modern" electronic digital computers became operational. I was for a number of years a Trustee of the Computer Museum, and I am a founder-member of the Editorial Board of the Annals of the History of Computing. Unfortunately, my interest in computer history is very much a spare time one these days, as the sparseness of the following publication list attests.

[1] B. Randell, "Ludgate's Analytical Machine of 1909", Computer J., 14 (3), pp.317-26, 1971.

[2] B. Randell, "On Alan Turing and the Origins of Digital Computers", in Machine Intelligence 7 (B. Meltzer and D. Michie, Eds.), pp.3-20, Edinburgh Univ. Press, 1972.

[3] B. Randell (Ed.), The Origins of Digital Computers: Selected Papers, 464p., Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 1973.

[4] B. Randell (Ed.), The Origins of Digital Computers: Selected Papers (2nd ed.), 464p., Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 1975.

[5] B. Randell, "An Annotated Bibliography on the Origins of Digital Computers", Annals of the History of Computing, 1 (2), pp.101-207, October 1979.

[6] B. Randell, "Software Engineering in 1968", in Proc. of the 4th Int. Conf. on Software Engineering, (Munich), pp.1-10, 1979.

[7] B. Randell, "The Colossus", in A History of Computing in the Twentieth Century (N. Metropolis, J. Howlett and G. C. Rota, Eds.), pp.47-92, Academic Press, New York, 1980.

[8] B. Randell, "Comment (on The ENIAC: The First General-Purpose Electronic Computer, by A. W. Burks and A. R. Burks)", Annals of the History of Computing, 3 (4), pp.396-7, 1981.

[9] B. Randell, "The Case of the Missing Memoranda", Annals of the History of Computing, 4 (1), pp.67-8, January 1982.

[10] B. Randell, "From Analytical Engine to Electronic Digital Computer: The Contributions of Ludgate, Torres and Bush", Annals of the History of Computing, 4 (4), pp.327-41, October 1982.

[11] B. Randell (Ed.), The Origins of Digital Computers: Selected Papers (3rd ed.), 580p., Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 1982.

[12] B. Randell, "Comments on Wiener's Memorandum", Annals of the History of Computing, 9 (2), pp.193-4, 1982.

[13] B. Randell, "A Mysterious Advertisement", Annals of the History of Computing, 5 (1), pp.60-3, January 1983.

[14] B. Randell, "Epilogue", in A Computer Perspective: Background to the Computer Age (C. Eames and R. Eames, Eds.), pp.161-3, Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge MA, 1990.

[15] B. Randell, "Reunion at Bletchley Park", IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 14 (2), pp.51-3, 1992.

[16] B. Randell, "The Origins of Computer Programming", IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 16 (4), pp.6-14, 1994.

[17] B. Randell, "La Filiation des Machines a Calculer Contemporain", in Histoire Generale des Techniques, V. Les Techniques de la Civilisation Industrielle: Transformation, Communication, Facteur Humain. Ed. M. Dumas. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1996.

[18] B. Randell, "Memories of the NATO Software Engineering Conferences". IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, 20 (1), pp.51-54, 1998.

[19] B. Randell, "Digital Computers: Origins". In Concise Encyclopaedia of Computer Science. (ed. E.A. Reilly.) Wiley, New York, pp.258-260, 2004.

[20] B. Randell, "Reminiscences of Whetstone ALGOL". Resurrection, Issue 50, pp. 14-22, 2010. Computer Conservation Society, ISSN 0958-7403.

Brian Randell, 7 Jan 2011