Description of Photograph

Photograph of the control console of LEO I, with a rear view of John Pinkerton.

This image appears in the interactive plan for our Virtual LEO I installation, p52.

 

Research comments: Although we can't yet confirm the precise date of this photograph, it is worth noting that the control panel is not yet fully populated. The LEO sign is in place, however, and beneath it is the loudspeaker from which emerged the noise made by the computer during its operations. The sounds were used as a guide by operators and engineers who became able to identify errors and faults based on the different noises.

The controls on the top left are voltage supply meters and below them are buffer store indicators. The top right controls are for marginal testing. On either side in the lower panel are rasterscopes, on which binary representations of the contents of the store and the registers could be screened.

John Pinkerton, who is sat at the console in this photograph, was a key member of the LEO team. He had been recommended to Lyons by Maurice Wilkes after completing his PhD at Cambridge University and on joining the company in 1949, he built the small team who first worked on developing the computer. (LM/CM)

Provenance
Collected by Peter Bird as part of his research for his book LEO - The First Business Computer (1994).

Date: c1954-58

Physical Description: 1 photographic print; black and white

Archives Hub References: CMLEO/PB/PH/1/60737
PJB/3/2/057

Other References: DCMLEO20190524015
                  
                  
                  
                  


Comment on This Photograph

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH60737. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.