A magnetic-tape auxiliary storage system for the EDSAC. Signed offprint
Publisher Information: 1956. Wilkes, Maurice V. and Willis, D. W. A magnetic-tape auxiliary storage system for the EDSAC. Offprint from Proceedings of the Institution of Electrical Engineers 103, part B, suppl. 2 (1956). Original white printed wrappers. Signed by Wilkes on the front wrapper. 337-345 [1]pp. 281 x 217 mm. Provenance: Maurice Wilkes. Fine. Book Id: 39736
First edition, offprint issue. A description of the experimental magnetic-tape storage system developed for EDSAC, which was the direct ancestor of the magnetic tape units on EDSAC 2. Spurred by the work then being done in the United States on the use of magnetic tape for computer purposes, Wilkes became the first in Britain to pursue this line of research. "After some initial experiments I designed, with the help of the workshop staff, a magnetic tape unit of advanced specification. The tape was moved at 100 inches per second by means of a pair of pneumatic capstans, one for each direction. . . . I had as a collaborator in this work D. W. Willis who had been on our staff in the early days and who had now rejoined the Laboratory. . . . We connected an early version of the tape unit to EDSAC 1 via a shift register. The system did not work particularly well and contributed little to the operation of the machine. It did, however, enable some practical experience to be obtained. In due course, Willis joined Decca Radar, taking with him the knowledge he had acquired while with us, and the result was the Decca twin tape unit. We purchased two of these for the EDSAC 2, giving us four tape positions in all, and they gave very good service" (Wilkes 1985, 190). Wilkes 1999, no. 40. Origins of Cyberspace 1037.
Price: $275.00