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Maurice Wilkes
Computer scientist

Maurice Wilkes

Famoose for

Leading EDSAC’s development and introducing microprogramming.

EDSAC · Microprogramming

Born
26 June 1913
Birthplace
Dudley
Died
29 November 2010

More people

Ada LovelaceRecognising what a programmable machine could do beyond arithmetic.Alan TuringHelping break Enigma and laying foundations for computer science.Grace HopperHelping make computer programming readable in English-like language.

Maurice Wilkes

English computer scientist whose Cambridge laboratory built an early practical stored-program computer. His work connected computer hardware with methods for organising its operation.

Early life

Radio and mathematics

Grew up in Stourbridge and became interested in amateur radio at school. Studied mathematics at Cambridge before doctoral research on radio propagation.

Career

  1. 1945

    Laboratory director

    Took charge of Cambridge’s Mathematical Laboratory.

  2. 1949

    EDSAC

    His team brought the computer into operation.

  3. 1967

    Turing Award

    Received the computing research honour.

Contributions

EDSAC

Made stored-program computing available for university research.

Microprogramming

Proposed controlling a processor through sequences of stored microinstructions.

Beyond work

Family

Married classicist Nina Twyman in 1947. They had a son and two daughters.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author. CC BY 2.0 uk · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.