Trevor Pearcey (5 March 1919 – 27 January 1998) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

-born Australian scientist, who created

CSIRAC CSIRAC (; ''Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Automatic Computer''), originally known as CSIR Mk 1, was Australia's first digital computer, and the fifth stored program computer in the world. It is the oldest surviving first-gene ...

, one of the first stored-program electronic computers in the world. Born in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

, London, he graduated from

Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

in 1940 with first class honours in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

. He emigrated to Australia in 1945. In a 1948 paper, published in the ''Australian Journal of Science'', he envisaged using a digital electronic computer for providing information over a national telecommunications network: He bet that he could make an electronic device that would be 1000 times faster than the best electronic device of the time. One of his calculators filled a small room, weighing 7 tons. He was awarded a

D.Sc. Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

by the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

in 1971. In his later years he lived on the

Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geo ...

near

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. The

Pearcey Foundation The Pearcey Foundation is an Australian organisation dedicated to raising the profile of the Australian Information Technology and Telecommunications industry. The foundation was formed in 1998 and is named after Trevor Pearcey, an Australian engi ...

and the

Pearcey Award The Pearcey Awards are a set of prizes presented annually since 1998 by the Pearcey Foundation for achievement in the Australian ICT industry. Pearcey Award Categories Each year, the Pearcey Foundation presents 3 categories of award: ;Pearce ...

for outstanding achievement by an Australian in the ICT industry are named after him.

Notes

References

* 1919 births 1998 deaths Australian computer scientists 20th-century English mathematicians Scientists from Melbourne British emigrants to Australia {{Australia-scientist-stub