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Re:The codebreaker who saved 'millions of lives' by m0nty on Tuesday June 19, 2012 @08:12AM (#4131356)
I have always felt that Tommy Flowers' incredible contribution (i.e. building the first electronic, programmable computer) is all-too-frequently overlooked. I suppose it just makes a better story to talk about a lone genius rather than a group of collaborators.
Re:The codebreaker who saved 'millions of lives' by monk_the_dog on Tuesday June 19, 2012 @08:47AM (#4131479)
I recently learned about Tommy Flowers and Colossus from this book: http://www.amazon.com/Colossus-secrets-Bletchley-code-breaki... The British kept Colossus secret for a too long and Flowers did not get enough credit (and von Neumann seems to get too much). BTW, I do recommend the above book. But we warned that it's a collection of essays by different authors so it can be uneven reading.
Re:The codebreaker who saved 'millions of lives' by m0nty on Tuesday June 19, 2012 @09:26AM (#4131641)
Thanks, I'll take a look at the book. Sometimes essays are fine because you can cherry-pick the good ones.