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.
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 - Bachelor of Science (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 - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Melbourne
- 1972 - 1985
- Career position - Head of Department (Dean of Technology), Caulfield Institute of Technology
Related entries
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
Book Sections
- Curtis, J. H., and Pearcey, Trevor, 'Chapter 8: Communications and Computers' in Technology in Australia, 1788-1988: a condensed history of Australian technological innovation and adaptation during the first two hundred years, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, eds (Melbourne: Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, 1988), pp. 533-630, https://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/525.html. 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
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7839366. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/108640078. Details
- 'Pearcey, T (1919-1998)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-615469. 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
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
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education