Milestone-Proposal talk:The Atlas computer and the Invention of Virtual Memory

7th February 2021 update -- Rmuttram (talk) 16:22, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

Proposal revised following discussions between proposal team and the Advocate to include a strong justification for the inclusion of Tom Kilburn's name on the Milestone Plaque and additional references.

Citation updated -- Rmuttram (talk) 10:56, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

Following discussion with the Advocate and amongst the team the citation has been updated to include University 'of Manchester' to facilitate future search effectiveness.

Minor restructuring -- Rmuttram (talk) 11:29, 13 February 2021 (UTC)

Tom Kilburn's IEEE awards moved up to the name justification section. Other minor edits.

Structural amendments for clarity -- Rmuttram (talk) 16:20, 17 February 2021 (UTC)

Photographs and diagram now embedded in text, Quotations indented and italicised. A few minor textual amendments.

Minor edits -- Rmuttram (talk) 12:20, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Small changes and additions as a result of dialogue with the Advocate and Experts.

Minor edits -- Rmuttram (talk) 14:10, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

One additional reference added. Text re multics updated. Other minor textual amendments.

Assessment by First Reviewer (Prof. Martin Campbell-Kelly) -- Bberg (talk) 07:57, 8 March 2021 (UTC)

As Advocate for the Atlas/Virtual Memory Milestone proposal, I solicited an expert review by Martin Campbell-Kelly, who is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Warwick, who has specialised in the history of computing, and who has also served on the editorial board of the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing journal.

A PDF of Prof. Campbell-Kelly's 22 February 2021 review of the proposal is at

File:Atlas-VM Milestone-ExpertReview(Martin Campbell-Kelly).pdf

The following is the text from this PDF:

Milestone-Proposal:The Atlas Computer and the Invention of Virtual Memory

I have read the submission from Professor Muttram and others. I find the written arguments to be fair and truthful. However, the evidence presented does not establish the claim for the “invention” of virtual memory. Virtual memory is a foundation technology for which there is no single inventor. The fact that other developers knew and cited the Atlas does not establish that they would not have arrived at the same end without the precedent of Atlas.

Hence, the title of the proposed milestone
     “The Atlas Computer and the Invention of Virtual Memory 1957-1962”
is too strong a claim. I would advise something like:
     “The Atlas Computer and the First Demonstration of Virtual Memory 1957-1962”
or
     “The Atlas Computer and the One Level Store, the First Demonstration of Virtual Memory 1957-1962”

Two examples reinforce this argument.

Example 1

According to Knuth and Trabb Pardo’s “Early Development of Programming Languages” (1976), Alec Glennie developed the first programming language for a stored program computer at Manchester University in 1952. It would therefore be fair to claim that “Glennie developed the first programming language 1952”, but it would be an over-claim to say that “Glennie invented programming languages 1952”.

Example 2

There are in the UK three plaques celebrating John Logie Baird who invented an early form of television, in fact called the televisor. None of the plaques claim that he “invented” television. Here are the inscriptions:

     John Logie Baird 1888-1946 Television pioneer lived here
     In 1926 in this house John Logie Baird 1888-1946 First Demonstrated Television
     John Logie Baird 1888-1946 Inventor of the Worlds First Working Television System

I conclude by stating that the proposers have made a compelling case for this milestone. I am only suggesting a modification of the wording.

The inclusion of Tom Kilburn FRS after the citation is fully justified. He ranks alongside Alan Turing FRS and Maurice Wilkes FRS. These were the only three computer pioneers in their generation to be elected to the Royal Society.