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Title: Guide to the Victor W. D. Hale Papers
Dates: 1948-1949
Collection number: X3115.2005
Creator:
Hale, Victor W. D.
Collection Size:
.25 linear feet
15 folders
Repository:
Computer History Museum
Mountain View, CA 94043
Abstract: The Victor W. D. Hale papers consist of two series - one devoted to the Conference on high-speed automatic calculating machines
held at the Cambridge University Mathematical Laboratory June 22-25, 1949, and one consisting of papers relating to EDSAC
from both before and after the conference.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection is open for research.
The Computer History Museum can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any
claims of the copyright holder. Permission to copy or publish any portion of the Computer History Museum's collection must
be given by the Computer History Museum.
[Identification of Item], [Date], Victor W. D. Hale papers, Lot X3115.2005, Box [#], Folder [#], Computer History Museum
The Victor W. D. Hale papers were purchased by the Computer History Museum at the Origins of Cyberspace held by Christie's
auction house in 2005.
Biography / Administrative History
Victor W. D. Hale worked as a code breaker at Bletchley Park, England during World War II. After the war, he was associated
with Trinity College, but it is not certain in what capacity (student or professor). In the fall of 1949, he joined the Department
of Mathematics at the University of Hull. In the early 1960s, he moved to York University where he was a Senior Lecturer and
was head of the department from 1966 to 1967. He retired in 1987 and died in 2004.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Victor W. D. Hale papers are grouped into two series. The Conference papers series contains papers relating to the Conference
on high-speed automatic calculating machines held at the Cambridge University Mathematical Laboratory June 22-25, 1949. Of
note is the information given to attendees such as a list of those attending, printouts from EDSAC, copies of papers presented
in some of the sessions, and handwritten notes by Victor Hale.
The EDSAC papers series contains papers relating to EDSAC itself from both before and after the conference. Of note are handwritten
notes of a routine to calculate square roots and the accompanying EDSAC coding sheets by Victor Hale, which may be the earliest
coding notes and sheets for EDSAC extant, as well as blueprint diagrams of EDSAC's order interpretation sent to Hale by Eric
Mutch.
- Series 1. Conference Papers
- Series 2. EDSAC Papers
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Cambridge University Mathematical Laboratory
Cambridge computer conference
Computers
Conference on high-speed automatic calculating machines
EDSAC (Computer)
Electronic Digital Computers
Hale, Victor W. D.
Wilkes, Maurice V.