The Atlas Computer Laboratory on the
Harwell, Oxfordshire
Harwell is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse about west of Didcot, east of Wantage and south of Oxford. The parish measures about north – south, and almost east – west at its widest point. In 1923 its area was . Hist ...
campus shared by the
Harwell Laboratory
The Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) was the main centre for atomic energy research and development in the United Kingdom from 1946 to the 1990s. It was created, owned and funded by the British Government.
A number of early rese ...
was one of the major computer laboratories in the world, which operated between 1961 and 1975 to provide a service to British scientists at a time when powerful computers were not usually available. The main user population was the UK universities and some government agencies.
Now called the Atlas centre, it is home to
European Space Agency
, owners =
, headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France
, coordinates =
, spaceport = Guiana Space Centre
, seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png
, seal_size = 130px
, image = Views in the Main Control Room (120 ...
's (ESA) Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC), the Space Applications and Telecommunications (ESA ESCAT), and the Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) Innovations Technology Access Centre (I-TAC).
History
From 1964 to 1971, the laboratory housed the largest of the three examples of the
Ferranti
Ferranti or Ferranti International plc was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The firm was known ...
Atlas 1 computer that was purchased for £2.5 million, and after which the laboratory was named. For a time, it was the fastest and most innovative of the computers available worldwide.
Throughout its life, it was headed by
Jack Howlett
Jack Howlett CBE (30 August 1912 – 5 May 1999) was a British mathematician and computer scientist who was head of the Atlas Computer Laboratory for the duration of its existence.
Personal life and early career
He was educated at Philips ...
. Early staff or visitors included
A. O. L. Atkin
Arthur Oliver Lonsdale Atkin (31 July 1925 – 28 December 2008), who published under the name A. O. L. Atkin, was a British mathematician.
As an undergraduate during World War II, Atkin worked at Bletchley Park cracking German codes. He re ...
(1964–1970),
I. J. Good
Irving John Good (9 December 1916 – 5 April 2009)The Times of 16-apr-09, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article6100314.ece
was a British mathematician who worked as a cryptologist at Bletchley Park with Alan Turing. Afte ...
(1964–1967), and
Donald Michie
Donald Michie (; 11 November 1923 – 7 July 2007) was a British researcher in artificial intelligence. During World War II, Michie worked for the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, contributing to the effort to solve " Tunny ...
who had worked together at
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...
during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.
High quality text and graphics output on both paper and film was provided by a
Stromberg-Carlson SC4020
Stromberg-Carlson was a telecommunications equipment and electronics manufacturing company in the United States. It was formed in 1894 as a partnership by Swedish emigration to the United States, Swedish immigrants Alfred Stromberg (1861 Varnhem ...
microfilm recorder that provided a unique service for many years, especially to people interested in doing computer animation. Associated with the SC4020 was a
PDP15 satellite computer that provided previewing facilities for the SC4020 and a range of interactive graphics facilities for users.
From 1971, an
ICL 1906A was installed with twice the computing power of the Atlas 1. About the same time, work started on replacing the ageing SC4020 with a modern
III FR80 microfilm recorder which expanded the range of output media to include microfiche and was able to generate colour as well as black and white output.
From 1967 until 1985, several of the earliest
computed generated image (CGI) or
computer animated
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images ( moving images), while computer animation refe ...
films were produced at the laboratory, particularly for the
Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...
. Most famously, the laboratory's facilities were used to produce the
raster wireframe model rendering shown on the navigation monitors in the landing sequence of the 1979
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades th ...
film
''Alien'' which won the 1979
Academy Award for Best Visual Effects
The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects.
History of the award
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized the technical contributions of special effects ...
.
The Atlas Computer Laboratory made important contributions to
systems software
System software is software designed to provide a platform for other software. Examples of system software include operating systems (OS) like macOS, Linux, Android and Microsoft Windows, computational science software, game engines, search engin ...
including
operating systems
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...
,
compilers
In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs that ...
,
computer graphics
Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great deal ...
, and
networking
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics
...
. Basic software in the areas of statistics,
mathematics,
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...
,
chemistry and many other areas was also developed.
In 1975, the Atlas Computer Laboratory was closed, moving some parts to the
Daresbury Laboratory
Daresbury Laboratory is a scientific research laboratory based at Sci-Tech Daresbury campus near Daresbury in Halton, Cheshire, England. The laboratory began operations in 1962 and was officially opened on 16 June 1967 as the Daresbury Nuclear P ...
and amalgamating the rest with the neighbouring Rutherford High Energy Laboratory, and then in 1979 with the
Appleton Laboratory to form the
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). It began as the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory, merged with the Atl ...
. Since 2007, the
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). It began as the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory, merged with the Atl ...
has been operated by the
Science and Technology Facilities Council
The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is a United Kingdom government agency that carries out research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astro ...
.
In July 2009, The European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre Harwell (ESA BIC Harwell) moved into the Atlas building, now named the Atlas Centre. ESA BIC Harwell supports small and medium businesses that use space technology for everyday applications to develop their products and expand their companies. The building is also home to The Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) Innovations Technology Access Centre (I-TAC) and RAL space robotics division where the team is developing autonomous robotic platforms that can be used both for space and terrestrial applications; and ESA's
European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications
The European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications or ECSAT is a research center belonging to the European Space Agency (ESA) and located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
It was created i ...
(ECSAT).
References
External links
Computing at the Chilton Campus 1961–2003
*
ttp://vmine.net/g-exec/history.asp G-exec 1973, One of the first relational database management systemsWelcome to the ESA Business Incubation Centre HarwellWelcome to ESA: ECSATScience and Technology Facilities CouncilInnovations Technology Access Centre (I-TAC)
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1961 establishments in England
1975 disestablishments in England
Computer science institutes in the United Kingdom
History of Oxfordshire
Laboratories in the United Kingdom
Research institutes in Oxfordshire
Supercomputer sites
Vale of White Horse