CSIRAC: Australia’s first computer

Australia's first computer, CSIR Mark 1 (later called CSIRAC, the CSIR Automatic Computer), was the fourth in the world to be built. It filled a room the size of a double garage, required enough electricity to power a suburban street and had only a fraction of the brainpower of the cheapest modern electronic organiser. But it was a technological marvel of its time.

It was built in the late 1940s by CSIR scientists Dr Trevor Pearcey, Mr Maston Beard and Mr Geoff Hill, which put Australia at the forefront of computing. It revolutionised everything from weather forecasting to banking. It even played what is thought to be the first ever computer music.

 

Read more at: http://www.csiro.au/Outcomes/ICT-and-Services/National-Challenges/CSIRAC.aspx

  

See it on Scoop.it, via Education Futures