Person

Pearcey, Trevor (1919 - 1998)

Born
5 March 1919
Died
27 January 1998
Occupation
Computer scientist and Physicist

Summary

Trevor Pearcey, with Maston Beard, was involved in the development of CSIRAC, an early vacuum-tube stored-program computer for the CSIR/O 1947-1951.

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Details

Born 5 March 1919. Died 27 February 1998. Worked for the Radar Research Establishment, Great Malvern, UK during World War II, CSIR/O Division of Radiophysics 1947-57, Radar Research Establishment 1957-58, Division of Mathematical Statistics, CSIRO from 1959, but seconded to the CSIRAC Laboratory. It was during this period that he discovered the phenomenon of dynamic 'chaos' while making computational studies of subharmonics, now called period doubling. Second president, Australian Computer Society.

Chronology

1940
Education - BSc, University of London
1940
Education - Associate, Royal College of Science
1940 - 1945
Career position - Experimental Research Officer, Radar Research Establishment, United Kingdom
1945 - 1957
Career position - Research (later Senior) Research Officer, CSIRO Division of Radiophysics
1957 - 1959
Career position - Principal Research Officer, Ministry of Supply, United Kingdom
1959 - 1963
Career position - Senior Scientist, CSIRO Division of Mathematical Statistics
1963 - 1967?
Career position - Research Scientist, CSIRO Computing Research Section
1967? - 1968
Career position - Research Scientist, CSIRO Division of Computing Research
1968 - 1971
Career position - Research Consultant, Data Corporation
1971
Education - DSc, University of Melbourne
1972 - 1985
Career position - Head of Department (Dean of Technology), Caulfield Institute of Technology

Archival resources

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Corporate Records and Archives Strategies

  • Trevor Pearcey - Records, 1947 - 1970; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Corporate Records and Archives Strategies. Details

Published resources

Books

  • McCann, Doug and Thorne, Peter, The Last of the First CSIRAC: Australia's First Computer (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2000), 196 pp. Details

Edited Books

  • Bennett, J. M.; Broomham, Rosemary; Murton, P. M.; Pearcey, T.; Rutledge, R. W. ed., Computing in Australia: the Development of a Profession (Sydney: Hale and Iremonger, 1994), 344 pp. Details

Journal Articles

  • Willis, J. B.; and Deane, J. F., 'Trevor Pearcey and the First Australian Computer: a Lost Opportunity?', Historical Records of Australian Science, 17 (2) (2006), 209-225, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR06011. Details

Resources

See also

  • Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_p.html. Details
  • Anon, Australian men and women of science, engineering and technology (Port Melbourne: Reed Reference Australia, 1995), 661 pp. Details
  • Engineers Australia ed., Wonders never cease: 100 Australian engineering achievements (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2019), 236 pp. p.204. Details

McCarthy, G.J.

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 13 April 2023

EOAS ID: biogs/P001249b.htm

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