Beard, Maston (1917 - 2000)

Summary

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

Maston Beard graduated in 1939 from Sydney University and was involved in radar work until joining the CSIRAC project from 1947. When the computer was moved to the University of Melbourne in 1955, he continued work on digital techniques and the application of computers in connection with navigational aids for civil aviation, the processing of data from radio telescopes, the control of Narrabri radio heliograph, and the control of the Siding Spring 3.9-metre optical telescope. He obtained a Master of Engineering from the University of Sydney in 1959.

He retired from CSIRO in 1978 while assistant chief at the Division of Computing Research. Following his retirement he served as a Senior Research Fellow in the CSIRO Division of Radiophysics.

In 1980, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in recognition of service to Radiophysics.

Details

Chronology

1936

Career event - Student Member (StudIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

c. 1937

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Sydney

1939

Award - William and Jane Grahame mechanical engineering scholarship, University of Sydney

1939

Education - Bachelor of Engineering, Mechanical and Electrical (BE (Hons)), University of Sydney

1939 - 1947

Career position - Radio transmitter design and radar research, CSIRO

1947

Career event - Joined the CSIRAC project

c. 1955 - 1978

Career position - Assistant Chief, Division of Computing Research, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

1959

Education - Master of Engineering (MEng), University of Sydney

1978 -

Career position - Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Division of Radiophysics, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

1978

Life event - Retired

9 Jun 1980

Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) - in recognition of service to radiophysics

Related entries

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
• The Radiophysics Laboratory Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, A Textbook of Radar (Sydney; London: Angus & Robertson, 1947), 579 pp. Author of Chapter 20. Details

Journal Articles

• Beard, M.; Pearcey, T., 'The Genesis of an Early Stored-Program Computer: CSIRAC', Annals of the History of Computing, 6 (2) (1984), 106-115. Details

Resources

• 'Beard, Maston', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1476297. Details
• Pass, Steven, CSIRAC: Australia's first computer in 1949, Computer Science and Software Engineering, The University of Melbourne, 2000, http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/csirac/. Details

Resource Sections

• Ward, C., 'Maston Beard', in CSIROpedia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), 2011, https://csiropedia.csiro.au/Beard-Maston. Details

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_b.html. Details
• Brown, R. Hanbury; Minnett, Harry C; White, Fredrick W. G., 'Edward George Bowen 1911-1991', Historical Records of Australian Science, 9 (2) (1992), 151-166. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9920920151. Details
• Engineers Australia ed., Wonders never cease: 100 Australian engineering achievements (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2019), 236 pp, https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/2025-08/EA1_Wonders%20never%20cease.pdf. "The start of the digital revolution", p.204-5. Details