Who Would Be a Human Computer? - Dr Ian Thompson
28th January 2023
Before World War Two, there were no machines capable of completing long calculations, so mathematicians and engineers employed teams of human 'computers' whose job was to process numerical data. This didn't always mean using mental arithmetic (there were mechanical calculators for that), but using planning and teamwork to string together complex calculations. In this session, we will see what we can still learn from the ideas used by human computers, find out about who had the job, and discuss the technological developments that finally made it redundant. Calculator and teamwork required!