60-year-old Harwell blinks again

One of the oldest computers decided to restart. Computer Harwell has already been sent for restoration to the National Computer Museum in Blechli. Only there are specialists who can breathe life into the ancient technique.

The computer was designed in 1949, assembled by three engineers in a year and a half, and the ceremonial launch took place in 1951 at the Center for Atomic Research in Blechli.

During its launch, this 2.4 x 5 m tube computer was an advanced scientific achievement, although its designers, they said , were guided solely by economic considerations. The machine performed the work of six to ten meters with mechanical calculators and did not require a salary. Harwell was not the first of its kind. By that time, more than five computers were already working in the UK alone, including Colossus Mark 1, Colossus Mark 2, Manchester Baby, Manchester Mark 1 and EDSAC. About the same was in the United States, not to mention the very first full-fledged digital computer Zuse Z3 in the world (launched in May 1941 in Nazi Germany).
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Harwell successfully performed its functions until 1958, while serial computers did not appear on the market. Then he traveled to universities, students studied there. Only in 1973, the computer was sent to the collection of the Birmingham Museum.

Harwell restoration will take about a year. After that, he will be, apparently, the oldest working computer on the planet. Finally geeks will be able to see for themselves how the tube memory works.