Wikipedia

User:Dicklyon/Baby

< User:Dicklyon

Manchester Baby – what's it called? edit

By date edit

  • 1948. The 1948 Nature letter did not give it a name; calls it "a small electronic digital computing machine" and "the present machine" and "the machine".
  • 1951. Their 1951 paper was actually titled "UNIVERSAL HIGH-SPEED DIGITAL COMPUTERS: A SMALL-SCALE EXPERIMENTAL MACHINE" in all caps on the paper, but listed in title case at the IEEE; the wording clearly indicates that it is not a name but a description, and that text is not used inside the article at all.
  • 1953. The write-up of the conference "Bowden, B.V., ed. (1953), Faster Than Thought, London: Pitman, ISBN 0 273 41330 9", chapter 6 by Kilburn & Williams, the machine was called "a small prototype machine ... this prototype machine ... the prototype machine" (p118) and the second 1949 machine "A Large-scale Machine" (p123, heading) and "the large-scale experimental machine" (p125). The reference to the 1951 paper has lowercase "a small-scale experimental machine".
  • 1953. In Digital computers at Manchester University by Kilburn, Tootill, and Edwards, called it "The Miniature Machine" (in a heading) and "the miniature machine" (in a sentence); no Baby or SSEM except in the reference to the earlier paper with subtitle "A Small Scale Experimental Machine".
  • 1959. Electronic Digital Computers by Charles V. L. Smith has reference title and subtitle in title case: "Universal High Speech Computers: A Small Scale Experimental Machine", missing the hyphen.
  • 1965 (revised 1970) Electronic Computers by Hollingdale and Tootill (the latter being the machine's builder, who first used "a small-scale experimental machine" on his master's thesis, according to his oral history) refers to it only as "a small laboratory model" and "the first of the Manchester University experimental computers".
  • 1975. A history of Manchester computers by Simon Hugh Lavington has the paper subtitle in the refs, sentence case. And on p. 7 "The prototype machine", and "a prototype machine", and "The 'baby machine,' as it was called". And on p. 8 "The machine", "the prototype", and "the world's first stored-program computer". No name but "baby".
  • 1978. This article on the 40 year celebration, Manchester Evening News, Weds June 21st, 1978. "Eureka! It was time to celebrate." includes "the prototype Mark 1 stored program computer", and just "the prototype"; and quotes Professor Kilburn, "The prototype had been virtually working for two or three weeks but things kept going wrong. And suddenly it was right. We just went mad and went off to celebrate."
  • 1980. History of Computing in the Twentieth Century edited by Nicholas Negraponte, article "Computer Development at Manchester University" by S. H. Lavington (reprinted in 2014 book) calls it, "the 'baby MARK I'". There's no "small scale" or "experimental machine" or SSEM or anything like that present.
  • 1980. This other Lavington 1980, the book Early British Computers, calls it only "a very small prototype computer".
  • 1985. Michael R. Williams. A History of Computing Technology (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall) 0-13-389917-9 – "a small prototype computer", "This tiny test-bed machine", "This very simple machine", "the machine", "this prototype computer"; no name.
  • 1993. Croarken, Mary. "The beginnings of the Manchester computer phenomenon: people and influences." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 15, no. 3: 9-16. – "the Manchester 'baby machine' "; "the first prototype stored-program computer (known later as the Manchester baby)"; "a prototype (or baby machine)"; "a very small prototype computer - which has become known as the Manchester baby"; "The baby machine".


50th anniversary rebuild project
  • 1998. The computer50.org page got rehosted here. This is the earliest I can find referring to "the Small-Scale Experimental Machine" (in "The Small-Scale Experimental Machine, known as SSEM, or the 'Baby'..."; and also "this Small-Scale Experimental Machine"), as opposed to a small-scale experimental machine. But it much more often calls it "the 'Baby'".
  • 1998 Manchester Memoirs vol. 136 "The First Computer" talk by Tom Kilburn as summarized by M. G. Hartley – "In recent times Chris Burton of the Computer Conservation Society has led a small team building a replica of 'The Baby' using the same components as those employed in the prototype machine. " (no mention of small-scale). ... Got the book; four mentions of 'Baby' or 'The Baby' (2 each) in these two pages, no mention of anything like small-scale experimental machine: "The prototype Manchester machine, the 'Baby' " (also has 'Colussus' in quotes the same way); "the replica 'Baby' machine".
  • 1998. This C. Burton paper, "The Manchester baby reborn" (title was probably mistakenly downcased in the metadata), uses both "the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) at Manchester University" and "Manchester University's 'Baby'" in the abstract. Baby is treated as a name, while the other appears to be descriptive.
  • 1998. "Digital patina: Texts, spirit and the first computer" by Jon Agar talks about names: "a rebuilt computer marked Manchester as 'home to the second industrial revolution', but also crucially signified a future, even a 'rebirth' - one reason why the name 'Baby' has pre-dominated in the fiftieth anniversary literature over 'Mark I' or 'Small-Scale Experimental Machine'". And "The prototypes (retrospectively distinguished as the 'Baby' of 1948 and the 'Prototype Mark I')" and "For the 'Baby' rebuild..." and "The remainder of this paper focuses on one project, the Manchester 'Baby' project". And "The rebuilt 'Baby'".
  • 1998. This Shelburne & Burton paper on the original programs only uses Small-Scale Experimental Machine when defining the acronym SSEM; it is common to cap non-proper names when introducing their acronyms, so this can't really be taken as evidence of treatment as a proper name. Also "Baby", "the Manchester 'Baby' ", "the rebuilt 'Baby' "; Baby is treated as a name, 5 times, while the other appears to be descriptive.
  • 1998. Science Museum Group uses the term "Small-Scale Experimental Machine" only once, and Baby many times. The plaque by the replica machine (pictured) says "It was nicknamed 'Baby' because is was a small-scale experimental prototype."


  • 2000. Kahn, Hilary J., and R. B. E. Napper. "The birth of the baby (early digital computer history)." In Computer Design, 2000. Proceedings. 2000 International Conference on, pp. 481-484. IEEE. – "This machine was known as the Small Scale Experimental Machine - or The Baby." SSEM 9 times, Baby 11 times.
  • 2002. Rojas & Hashagen (2002), article by Christopher P. Burton, "Project Manager of the Small-Scale Experimental Machine Rebuild Project", uses "University of Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, the 'Baby'" in the abstract, and "Small-Scale Experimental Machine" without an article in a caption. Article by R. B. E. Napper uses "a Small Scale Experimental Machine" without hyphen. And the index for this says "see Manchester Baby".
  • 2003. Reenskaug, Trygve. "Applications and Technologies for Maritime and Offshore Industries" In History of Nordic Computing: IFIP WG9.7 First Working Conference on the History of Nordic Computing (HiNC1), June 16-18, 2003, Trondheim, Norway. – "the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine – 'The Baby' " (referencing the computer50.org page of that hyphen-less title)
  • 2004. Onifade, Adebowale. "History of the computer" In Conference of History of Electronics. 2004. – "The University of Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, the 'Baby' " and "The SSEM" (but not connected)
  • 2005. Replicating the Manchester Baby: Motives, methods, and messages from the past by C. P. Burton has "The University of Manchester's Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), known as the Baby". And "what was originally known as the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), and informally as “The Baby,” gradually evolved into the Manchester Mark 1 computer." and "the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) replica". In all cases the caps are part of defining the acronym SSEM.
  • 2005. Swade, Doron D. "Historical reconstructions." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 27, no. 3: p. 3. – "the Manchester Baby" 2 times; no small-scale.
  • 2007. Anderson's Turing 2004 conference talk (a 2005–2007 written version of a 2004 talk, published finally in 2008) has "the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) or 'Baby'". No hyphen, caps only where defining the acronym, likely from after Wikipedia adopted the hyphenated capped name, perhaps after Wikipedia added the Manchester (his pubs page lists it as 2008). Mostly refers to it as the SSEM (17 times), the Baby (6 times), and the Manchester Baby (5 times, including in the title).


2008, 60th anniversary
  • 2008. BBC article about computer music calls it "Manchester's 'Baby'", "the Baby Machine", "a polished version of Baby", "the birth of Baby, or Small Scale Experimental Machine, in 1948", "'Baby was the first universal computer,' explained Mr Burton."
  • 2008. The digital60.org site mostly calls it "Baby" but also has "Small-Scale Experimental Machine" with and without the hyphen (as well as "the small scale SSEM")
  • 2008. Hayes, James. "Nineteen eighty-four unplugged (Big Brother)" Engineering & Technology 3, no. 9: 14-17. – "Called the Small Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), it was nicknamed the 'Manchester Baby', aka 'Mark 1 prototype' "


  • 2009 Anderson, David. [ "The contribution of MHA Newman and his mathematicians to the creation of the Manchester ‘Baby’]" BSHM Bulletin 24, no. 1 (2009): 27-39. – "the Manchester Baby" in abstract; "the Manchester Baby or SSEM" in text.
  • 2009 Tom Kilburn: A Pioneer of Computer Design by David P. Anderson – "the Manchester Baby" and "the Baby" several times each. He no longer mentions the SSEM name that he used in a previous publication or two.
  • 2010. Paul Atkinson. Computer Reaktion Books – "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (also known as the 'Manchester "Baby" ')"
  • 2011. Jeffrey R. Yost. From the Editor’s Desk IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 33, no. 1: p. 2. – "...the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) project at Victoria College, University of Manchester. SSEM, better known as the Manchester Baby..."; "the Baby project"; "the Manchester Baby computer"; "the Manchester Baby project"; "...the Baby’s instruction set, and how Newman profoundly influenced Williams and Kilburn’s overall design decisions with the Baby."
  • 2011. Copeland, B. "The Manchester computer: a revised history part 1: The memory." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 33, no. 1 (2011): 4-21. – "The Manchester Baby" and "the Baby" in abstract; "the Manchester Baby" 4 times in text and 3 more in refs; "Baby" about 23 more times in text; "a small-scale university pilot project"; no SSEM.
  • 2011. Copeland, B. "The Manchester computer: A revised history part 2: The Baby computer." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 33, no. 1 (2011): 22-37. – No SSEM except in a quote from Tootill: "Small-Scale Experimental Machine [the Baby]"; "Manchester Baby" 5 times; "the Baby"; "the Baby Computer"; "the 1948 Baby"; "the actual Baby"; several times each.
  • 2011. Hall, Jon G., John Grundy, Ivan Mistrik, Patricia Lago, and Paris Avgeriou. "Introduction: Relating requirements and architectures" In Relating Software Requirements and Architectures, pp. 1-9. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. – "the Manchester small-scale experimental machine, aka Baby"
  • 2012. Simon Lavington, Chris Burton, Martin Campbell-Kelly, Roger Johnson. Alan Turing and His Contemporaries: Building the World's First Computers BCS, The Chartered Institute. Ch. 4 "The Manchester Machines" by C. Burton and S. Lavington – "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM)" (in bio paragraph of Burton); "the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) or 'Baby'" (capped only in defining the acronym); "The SSEM: the 'Baby' computer".
  • 2012. Miyazaki, Shintaro. "Computational Culture" – "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM)"; no Baby; capped only in defining acronym; cited Lavington 2011 which has it lowercase.
  • 2013. Making the History of Computing Relevant: IFIP WG 9.7 International by Tatnall, ‎Blyth, ‎& Johnson, the article "The Teenage 'Baby' on Show" by C. P. Burton uses mostly "Baby", but also includes "the Manchester University Small-Scale Experimental Machine ('Baby')" and "the University of Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine ('Baby')" (without the hyphen). In the citation to the 1951 paper they use lowercase "a small-scale experimental machine". Another article in the volume, "Telling the Long and Beautiful (Hi)Story of Automation!" by Marie d'Ukedem-Gevers, quotes M. Campbell-Kelly, "A small-scale experimental computer known as the miniature or baby machine...".
  • 2013. O'Regan, Gerard. "Frederick Williams" In Giants of Computing, pp. 267-271. Springer, London – "the first stored program digital electronic computer (the Manchester 'Baby') in 1947" in abstract. "They developed the small-scale experimental machine (SSEM) in 1947, and this was the first stored program computer. It was also known as the Manchester 'Baby' computer" in text.
  • 2013. Cooper, S. Barry. "What Makes A Computation Unconventional?" In Computing Nature, pp. 255-269. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. – "the 1948 Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), or 'Manchester Baby',"
  • 2014. Haigh, Thomas, Mark Priestley, and Crispin Rope. "Reconsidering the stored-program concept" IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 36, no. 1: 4-17. – "Manchester University's 'Baby' (known more formally as the Small-Scale Experimental Machine)"
  • 2016. Parallel Computing: On the Road to Exascale by Joubert, ‎Leather, ‎& Parsons; the article by Steve Furber uses "the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine (the Manchester 'Baby')" (without the hyphen) just once, and "Baby" 8 times.
  • 2017. Deborah Woodman. Story of Manchester The History Press – "The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, which was nicknamed Baby,"


Which sources use "small-scale experimental machine" or "computer" in lowercase? edit

  • 1953. The write-up of the conference "Bowden, B.V., ed. (1953), Faster Than Thought, London: Pitman, ISBN 0 273 41330 9", chapter 6 by Kilburn & Williams, the machine was called "a small prototype machine ... this prototype machine ... the prototype machine" (p118) and the second 1949 machine "A Large-scale Machine" (p123, heading) and "the large-scale experimental machine" (p125). The reference to the 1951 paper has lowercase "a small-scale experimental machine".
  • 2011. Hall, Jon G., John Grundy, Ivan Mistrik, Patricia Lago, and Paris Avgeriou. "Introduction: Relating requirements and architectures" In Relating Software Requirements and Architectures, pp. 1-9. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. – "the Manchester small-scale experimental machine, aka Baby"
  • 2013. O'Regan, Gerard. "Frederick Williams" In Giants of Computing, pp. 267-271. Springer, London – "the first stored program digital electronic computer (the Manchester 'Baby') in 1947" in abstract. "They developed the small-scale experimental machine (SSEM) in 1947, and this was the first stored program computer. It was also known as the Manchester 'Baby' computer" in text.

Which sources cap it like a proper name? Up to 30 depending on which you count edit

(Nearly half – 13 – use caps only in defining the acronym, which is not a good sign of proper name treatment.)
  • 1998. The computer50.org page got rehosted here. This is the earliest I can find referring to "the Small-Scale Experimental Machine" (in "The Small-Scale Experimental Machine, known as SSEM, or the 'Baby'..."; and also "this Small-Scale Experimental Machine"), as opposed to a small-scale experimental machine. But it much more often calls it "the 'Baby'".
  • 2004. Onifade, Adebowale. "History of the computer" In Conference of History of Electronics. 2004. – "The University of Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, the 'Baby' " and "The SSEM" (but not connected)
  • 2010. Paul Atkinson. Computer Reaktion Books – "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (also known as the 'Manchester "Baby" ')"
  • 2011. Copeland, B. "The Manchester computer: A revised history part 2: The Baby computer." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 33, no. 1 (2011): 22-37. – No SSEM except in a quote from Tootill: "Small-Scale Experimental Machine [the Baby]"; "Manchester Baby" 5 times; "the Baby"; "the Baby Computer"; "the 1948 Baby"; "the actual Baby"; several times each.
  • 2017. Deborah Woodman. Story of Manchester The History Press – "The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, which was nicknamed Baby,"

Capped only in defining the acronym edit

  • 1998. This Shelburne & Burton paper on the original programs only uses Small-Scale Experimental Machine when defining the acronym SSEM; it is common to cap non-proper names when introducing their acronyms, so this can't really be taken as evidence of treatment as a proper name. Also "Baby", "the Manchester 'Baby' ", "the rebuilt 'Baby' "; Baby is treated as a name, 5 times, while the other appears to be descriptive.
  • 1998. This C. Burton paper, "The Manchester baby reborn" (title was probably mistakenly downcased in the metadata), uses both "the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) at Manchester University" and "Manchester University's 'Baby'" in the abstract.
  • 2005. Replicating the Manchester Baby: Motives, methods, and messages from the past by C. P. Burton has "The University of Manchester's Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), known as the Baby". And "what was originally known as the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), and informally as “The Baby,” gradually evolved into the Manchester Mark 1 computer." and "the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) replica". In all cases the caps are part of defining the acronym SSEM.
  • 2011. Jeffrey R. Yost. From the Editor’s Desk IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 33, no. 1: p. 2. – "...the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) project at Victoria College, University of Manchester. SSEM, better known as the Manchester Baby..."; "the Baby project"; "the Manchester Baby computer"; "the Manchester Baby project"; "...the Baby’s instruction set, and how Newman profoundly influenced Williams and Kilburn’s overall design decisions with the Baby."
  • 2012. Miyazaki, Shintaro. "Computational Culture" – "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM)"; no Baby; capped only in defining acronym; cited Lavington 2011 which has it lowercase.
  • 2012. Simon Lavington, Chris Burton, Martin Campbell-Kelly, Roger Johnson. Alan Turing and His Contemporaries: Building the World's First Computers BCS, The Chartered Institute. Ch. 4 "The Manchester Machines" by C. Burton and S. Lavington – "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM)" (in bio paragraph of Burton); "the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) or 'Baby'" (capped only in defining the acronym); "The SSEM: the 'Baby' computer".
  • 2013. Cooper, S. Barry. "What Makes A Computation Unconventional?" In Computing Nature, pp. 255-269. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. – "the 1948 Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), or 'Manchester Baby',"

Only without the hyphen edit

  • 2000. Kahn, Hilary J., and R. B. E. Napper. "The birth of the baby (early digital computer history)." In Computer Design, 2000. Proceedings. 2000 International Conference on, pp. 481-484. IEEE. – "This machine was known as the Small Scale Experimental Machine - or The Baby." SSEM 9 times, Baby 11 times.
  • 2003. Reenskaug, Trygve. "Applications and Technologies for Maritime and Offshore Industries" In History of Nordic Computing: IFIP WG9.7 First Working Conference on the History of Nordic Computing (HiNC1), June 16-18, 2003, Trondheim, Norway. – "the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine – 'The Baby' " (referencing the computer50.org page of that hyphen-less title)
  • 2016. Parallel Computing: On the Road to Exascale by Joubert, ‎Leather, ‎& Parsons; the article by Steve Furber uses "the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine (the Manchester 'Baby')" (without the hyphen) just once, and "Baby" 8 times.

Both: capped only in defining the acronym, and without hyphen edit

  • 2007. Anderson's Turing 2004 conference talk (a 2005–2007 written version of a 2004 talk, published finally in 2008) has "the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) or 'Baby'". No hyphen, caps only where defining the acronym, likely from after Wikipedia adopted the hyphenated capped name, perhaps after Wikipedia added the Manchester (his pubs page lists it as 2008). Mostly refers to it as the SSEM (17 times), the Baby (6 times), and the Manchester Baby (5 times, including in the title).
  • 2008. Hayes, James. "Nineteen eighty-four unplugged (Big Brother)" Engineering & Technology 3, no. 9: 14-17. – "Called the Small Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), it was nicknamed the 'Manchester Baby', aka 'Mark 1 prototype' "

Mixed hyphen edit

  • 2002. Rojas & Hashagen (2002), article "Rebuilding the First Manchester Computer" by Christopher P. Burton, "Project Manager of the Small-Scale Experimental Machine Rebuild Project", uses "University of Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, the 'Baby'" in the abstract, and "of Small-Scale Experimental Machine" without an article in a caption, and "had built a Small Scale Experimental Machine to Tom Kilburn's design, the SSEM, or just 'The Baby'". Article by R. B. E. Napper uses "a Small Scale Experimental Machine" without hyphen. And the index for this says "see Manchester Baby".

Mixed case edit

  • 2013. Making the History of Computing Relevant: IFIP WG 9.7 International by Tatnall, ‎Blyth, ‎& Johnson, the article "The Teenage 'Baby' on Show" by C. P. Burton uses mostly "Baby", but also includes "the Manchester University Small-Scale Experimental Machine ('Baby')" and "the University of Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine ('Baby')" (without the hyphen). In the citation to the 1951 paper they use lowercase "a small-scale experimental machine". Another article in the volume, "Telling the Long and Beautiful (Hi)Story of Automation!" by Marie d'Ukedem-Gevers, quotes M. Campbell-Kelly, "A small-scale experimental computer known as the miniature or baby machine...".

Which of those use Small-Scale Experimental Machine before Wikipedia does in 2004? edit

  • Burton 1997
  • computer50.org 1998 (has it both with and without the hyphen)
  • Burton 1998
  • Shelburne & Burton 1998
  • Burton 2002
  • Onifade 2004 (maybe; conference 3 months after the WP article named)
Only without the hyphen (from computer50.org)
  • Kahn & Napper 2000
  • Napper 2002
  • Reenskaug 2003

Which put Manchester on the front, like Wikipedia since 2006? edit

  • 2007 Luijten
  • 2008 Porter
  • 2008 Sharpe
  • 2010 Atkinson
  • 2011 Yost
  • 2011 Tarnoff
  • 2012 Miyazaki
  • 2013 Burton
  • 2013 Gaboury
  • 2013 Cooper
  • 2014 Mamaghani
  • 2017 Woodman
Without the hyphen (more likely from computer50.org than from Wikipedia)
  • 2003 Reenskaug
  • 2007 Anderson
  • 2016 Furber
  • 2017 Doornbusch

Which ones call it Baby? These 66 edit

  • 1951 Harvard Annals – "They thus had a baby computing machine. The baby machine was ..."
  • 1975. A history of Manchester computers by Simon Hugh Lavington has the paper subtitle in the refs, sentence case. And on p. 7 "The prototype machine", and "a prototype machine", and "The 'baby machine,' as it was called". And on p. 8 "The machine", "the prototype", and "the world's first stored-program computer". No name but "baby".
  • 1980. History of Computing in the Twentieth Century edited by Nicholas Negraponte, article "Computer Development at Manchester University" by S. H. Lavington (reprinted in 2014 book) calls it, "the 'baby MARK I'". There's no "small scale" or "experimental machine" or SSEM or anything like that present.
  • 1993. Croarken, Mary. "The beginnings of the Manchester computer phenomenon: people and influences." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 15, no. 3: 9-16. – "the Manchester 'baby machine' "; "the first prototype stored-program computer (known later as the Manchester baby)"; "a prototype (or baby machine)"; "a very small prototype computer - which has become known as the Manchester baby"; "The baby machine".
  • 1996 Technology and Creativity by Dasgupta – "An earlier version of the Manchester machine, known as the 'baby mark i,' was ..." (no small-scale).

Here's where it switches to mostly capped "Baby", influenced by the 50th anniversary rebuild project:

  • 1998. The computer50.org page got rehosted here. This is the earliest I can find referring to "the Small Scale Experimental Machine" (in "The Small-Scale Experimental Machine, known as SSEM, or the 'Baby'..."; and also "this Small-Scale Experimental Machine"), as opposed to a small-scale experimental machine. But it much more often calls it "the 'Baby'".
  • 1998. This C. Burton paper, "The Manchester baby reborn" (title was probably mistakenly downcased in the metadata), uses both "the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) at Manchester University" and "Manchester University's 'Baby'" in the abstract. Baby is treated as a name, while the other appears to be descriptive.
  • 1998. Science Museum Group uses the term "Small-Scale Experimental Machine" only once, and Baby many times. The plaque by the replica machine (pictured) says "It was nicknamed 'Baby' because is was a small-scale experimental prototype."
  • 1998. "Digital patina: Texts, spirit and the first computer" by Jon Agar talks about names: "a rebuilt computer marked Manchester as 'home to the second industrial revolution', but also crucially signified a future, even a 'rebirth' - one reason why the name 'Baby' has pre-dominated in the fiftieth anniversary literature over 'Mark I' or 'Small-Scale Experimental Machine'". And "The prototypes (retrospectively distinguished as the 'Baby' of 1948 and the 'Prototype Mark I')" and "For the 'Baby' rebuild...". And "The remainder of this paper focuses on one project, the Manchester 'Baby' project". And "The rebuilt 'Baby'".
  • 1998. Science Museum Group uses the term "Small-Scale Experimental Machine" only once, and Baby many times. The plaque by the replica machine (pictured) says "It was nicknamed 'Baby' because is was a small-scale experimental prototype."
  • 1998 Manchester Memoirs vol. 136 "The First Computer" talk by Tom Kilburn as summarized by M. G. Hartley – "In recent times Chris Burton of the Computer Conservation Society has led a small team building a replica of 'The Baby' using the same components as those employed in the prototype machine. " (no mention of small-scale). ... Got the book; four mentions of 'Baby' or 'The Baby' (2 each) in these two pages, no mention of anything like small-scale experimental machine: "The prototype Manchester machine, the 'Baby' " (also has 'Colussus' in quotes the same way); "the replica 'Baby' machine".
  • 1998 Charles Babbage Institute of Computer History Newsletter, Volumes 19-23 – article "Manchester Celebrates Birth of 'Baby'", "included a dramatic reenactment of the 'Birth of the Baby'", "goals in the 50th Anniversary of the Manchester 'Baby' Computer" (capped thus), "The 50th, anniversary of 'Baby', the world's..." (also "the rebuilt Small-Scale Experimental Machine" and "from this small-scale Experimental Machine...", mixed caps thus).
  • 2000. Kahn, Hilary J., and R. B. E. Napper. "The birth of the baby (early digital computer history)." In Computer Design, 2000. Proceedings. 2000 International Conference on, pp. 481-484. IEEE. – "This machine was known as the Small Scale Experimental Machine - or The Baby." SSEM 9 times, Baby 11 times.
  • 2002. Rojas & Hashagen (2002), article "Rebuilding the First Manchester Computer" by Christopher P. Burton, "Project Manager of the Small-Scale Experimental Machine Rebuild Project", uses "University of Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, the 'Baby'" in the abstract, and "of Small-Scale Experimental Machine" without an article in a caption, and "had built a Small Scale Experimental Machine to Tom Kilburn's design, the SSEM, or just 'The Baby'". Article by R. B. E. Napper uses "a Small Scale Experimental Machine" without hyphen. And the index for this says "see Manchester Baby".
  • 2003. Reenskaug, Trygve. "Applications and Technologies for Maritime and Offshore Industries" In History of Nordic Computing: IFIP WG9.7 First Working Conference on the History of Nordic Computing (HiNC1), June 16-18, 2003, Trondheim, Norway. – "the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine – 'The Baby' " (referencing the computer50.org page of that hyphen-less title)
  • 2004. Onifade, Adebowale. "History of the computer" In Conference of History of Electronics. 2004. – "The University of Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, the 'Baby' " and "The SSEM" (but not connected)
  • 2005. Replicating the Manchester Baby: Motives, methods, and messages from the past by C. P. Burton has "The University of Manchester's Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), known as the Baby". And "what was originally known as the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), and informally as “The Baby,” gradually evolved into the Manchester Mark 1 computer." and "the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) replica". In all cases the caps are part of defining the acronym SSEM.
  • 2005. Swade, Doron D. "Historical reconstructions." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 27, no. 3: p. 3. – "the Manchester Baby" 2 times; no small-scale.
  • 2007. Anderson, David. "Was the Manchester 'Baby' conceived at Bletchley Park?" in eWIC conference 2004: Alan Mathison Turing 2004: A celebration of his life and achievements. Uses "Baby" in its title and then a dozen more times; and "the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) or 'Baby'" once, capped in defining the acronym; no hyphen.
  • 2008. BBC article about computer music calls it "Manchester's 'Baby'", "the Baby Machine", "a polished version of Baby", "the birth of Baby, or Small Scale Experimental Machine, in 1948", "'Baby was the first universal computer,' explained Mr Burton."
  • 2008. The digital60.org site mostly calls it "Baby" but also has "Small-Scale Experimental Machine" with and without the hyphen (as well as "the small scale SSEM")
  • 2008. Hayes, James. "Nineteen eighty-four unplugged (Big Brother)" Engineering & Technology 3, no. 9: 14-17. – "Called the Small Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), it was nicknamed the 'Manchester Baby', aka 'Mark 1 prototype' "
  • 2009 Tom Kilburn: A Pioneer of Computer Design by David P. Anderson – "the Manchester Baby" and "the Baby" several times each. He no longer mentions the SSEM name that he used in a previous publication or two.
  • 2009 Anderson, David. [ "The contribution of MHA Newman and his mathematicians to the creation of the Manchester ‘Baby’]" BSHM Bulletin 24, no. 1 (2009): 27-39. – "the Manchester Baby" in abstract; "the Manchester Baby or SSEM" in text.
  • 2010. Paul Atkinson. Computer Reaktion Books – "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (also known as the 'Manchester "Baby" ')"
  • 2011. Jeffrey R. Yost. From the Editor’s Desk IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 33, no. 1: p. 2. – "...the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) project at Victoria College, University of Manchester. SSEM, better known as the Manchester Baby..."; "the Baby project"; "the Manchester Baby computer"; "the Manchester Baby project"; "...the Baby’s instruction set, and how Newman profoundly influenced Williams and Kilburn’s overall design decisions with the Baby."
  • 2011. Copeland, B. "The Manchester computer: a revised history part 1: The memory." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 33, no. 1 (2011): 4-21. – "The Manchester Baby" and "the Baby" in abstract; "the Manchester Baby" 4 times in text and 3 more in refs; "Baby" about 23 more times in text; "a small-scale university pilot project"; no SSEM.
  • 2011. Copeland, B. "The Manchester computer: A revised history part 2: The Baby computer." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 33, no. 1 (2011): 22-37. – No SSEM except in a quote from Tootill: "Small-Scale Experimental Machine [the Baby]"; "Manchester Baby" 5 times; "the Baby"; "the Baby Computer"; "the 1948 Baby"; "the actual Baby"; several times each.
  • 2011. Hall, Jon G., John Grundy, Ivan Mistrik, Patricia Lago, and Paris Avgeriou. "Introduction: Relating requirements and architectures" In Relating Software Requirements and Architectures, pp. 1-9. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. – "the Manchester small-scale experimental machine, aka Baby"
  • 2012. Simon Lavington, Chris Burton, Martin Campbell-Kelly, Roger Johnson. Alan Turing and His Contemporaries: Building the World's First Computers BCS, The Chartered Institute. Ch. 4 "The Manchester Machines" by C. Burton and S. Lavington – "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM)" (in bio paragraph of Burton); "the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) or 'Baby'" (capped only in defining the acronym); "The SSEM: the 'Baby' computer".
  • 2013. Making the History of Computing Relevant: IFIP WG 9.7 International by Tatnall, ‎Blyth, ‎& Johnson, the article "The Teenage 'Baby' on Show" by C. P. Burton uses mostly "Baby", but also includes "the Manchester University Small-Scale Experimental Machine ('Baby')" and "the University of Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine ('Baby')" (without the hyphen). In the citation to the 1951 paper they use lowercase "a small-scale experimental machine". Another article in the volume quotes M. Campbell-Kelly, "A small-scale experimental computer known as the miniature or baby machine...".
  • 2013. O'Regan, Gerard. "Frederick Williams" In Giants of Computing, pp. 267-271. Springer, London – "the first stored program digital electronic computer (the Manchester 'Baby') in 1947" in abstract. "They developed the small-scale experimental machine (SSEM) in 1947, and this was the first stored program computer. It was also known as the Manchester 'Baby' computer" in text.
  • 2013. Cooper, S. Barry. "What Makes A Computation Unconventional?" In Computing Nature, pp. 255-269. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. – "the 1948 Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), or 'Manchester Baby',"
  • 2014. Haigh, Thomas, Mark Priestley, and Crispin Rope. "Reconsidering the stored-program concept" IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 36, no. 1: 4-17. – "Manchester University's 'Baby' (known more formally as the Small-Scale Experimental Machine)"
  • 2016. Parallel Computing: On the Road to Exascale by Joubert, ‎Leather, ‎& Parsons; the article by Steve Furber uses "the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine (the Manchester 'Baby')" (without the hyphen) just once, and "Baby" 8 times.
  • 2017. Deborah Woodman. Story of Manchester The History Press – "The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, which was nicknamed Baby,"

Specifically "Manchester Baby" – These 32 edit

  • 1993. Croarken, Mary. "The beginnings of the Manchester computer phenomenon: people and influences." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 15, no. 3: 9-16. – "the Manchester 'baby machine' "; "the first prototype stored-program computer (known later as the Manchester baby)"; "a prototype (or baby machine)"; "a very small prototype computer - which has become known as the Manchester baby"; "The baby machine".

Here's where it switches to mostly capped "Baby":

  • 1998. "Digital patina: Texts, spirit and the first computer" by Jon Agar talks about names: "a rebuilt computer marked Manchester as 'home to the second industrial revolution', but also crucially signified a future, even a 'rebirth' - one reason why the name 'Baby' has pre-dominated in the fiftieth anniversary literature over 'Mark I' or 'Small-Scale Experimental Machine'". And "The prototypes (retrospectively distinguished as the 'Baby' of 1948 and the 'Prototype Mark I')" and "For the 'Baby' rebuild...". And "The remainder of this paper focuses on one project, the Manchester 'Baby' project". And "The rebuilt 'Baby'".
  • 1998 Charles Babbage Institute of Computer History Newsletter, Volumes 19-23 – article "Manchester Celebrates Birth of 'Baby'", "included a dramatic reenactment of the 'Birth of the Baby'", "goals in the 50th Anniversary of the Manchester 'Baby' Computer" (capped thus), "The 50th, anniversary of 'Baby', the world's..." (also "the rebuilt Small-Scale Experimental Machine" and "from this small-scale Experimental Machine...", mixed caps thus).
  • 2002. Rojas & Hashagen (2002), article "Rebuilding the First Manchester Computer" by Christopher P. Burton, "Project Manager of the Small-Scale Experimental Machine Rebuild Project", uses "University of Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, the 'Baby'" in the abstract, and "of Small-Scale Experimental Machine" without an article in a caption, and "had built a Small Scale Experimental Machine to Tom Kilburn's design, the SSEM, or just 'The Baby'". Article by R. B. E. Napper uses "a Small Scale Experimental Machine" without hyphen. And the index for this says "see Manchester Baby".
  • 2005. Swade, Doron D. "Historical reconstructions." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 27, no. 3: p. 3. – "the Manchester Baby" 2 times; no small-scale.
  • 2008. BBC article about computer music calls it "Manchester's 'Baby'", "the Baby Machine", "a polished version of Baby", "the birth of Baby, or Small Scale Experimental Machine, in 1948", "'Baby was the first universal computer,' explained Mr Burton."
  • 2008. Hayes, James. "Nineteen eighty-four unplugged (Big Brother)" Engineering & Technology 3, no. 9: 14-17. – "Called the Small Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), it was nicknamed the 'Manchester Baby', aka 'Mark 1 prototype' "
  • 2009 Anderson, David. [ "The contribution of MHA Newman and his mathematicians to the creation of the Manchester ‘Baby’]" BSHM Bulletin 24, no. 1 (2009): 27-39. – "the Manchester Baby" in abstract; "the Manchester Baby or SSEM" in text.
  • 2009 Tom Kilburn: A Pioneer of Computer Design by David P. Anderson – "the Manchester Baby" and "the Baby" several times each. He no longer mentions the SSEM name that he used in a previous publication or two.
  • 2010. Paul Atkinson. Computer Reaktion Books – "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (also known as the 'Manchester "Baby" ')"
  • 2011. Jeffrey R. Yost. From the Editor’s Desk IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 33, no. 1: p. 2. – "...the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) project at Victoria College, University of Manchester. SSEM, better known as the Manchester Baby..."; "the Baby project"; "the Manchester Baby computer"; "the Manchester Baby project"; "...the Baby’s instruction set, and how Newman profoundly influenced Williams and Kilburn’s overall design decisions with the Baby."
  • 2011. Copeland, B. "The Manchester computer: a revised history part 1: The memory." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 33, no. 1 (2011): 4-21. – "The Manchester Baby" and "the Baby" in abstract; "the Manchester Baby" 4 times in text and 3 more in refs; "Baby" about 23 more times in text; "a small-scale university pilot project"; no SSEM.
  • 2011. Copeland, B. "The Manchester computer: A revised history part 2: The Baby computer." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 33, no. 1 (2011): 22-37. – No SSEM except in a quote from Tootill: "Small-Scale Experimental Machine [the Baby]"; "Manchester Baby" 5 times; "the Baby"; "the Baby Computer"; "the 1948 Baby"; "the actual Baby"; several times each.
  • 2013. O'Regan, Gerard. "Frederick Williams" In Giants of Computing, pp. 267-271. Springer, London – "the first stored program digital electronic computer (the Manchester 'Baby') in 1947" in abstract. "They developed the small-scale experimental machine (SSEM) in 1947, and this was the first stored program computer. It was also known as the Manchester 'Baby' computer" in text.
  • 2013. Cooper, S. Barry. "What Makes A Computation Unconventional?" In Computing Nature, pp. 255-269. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. – "the 1948 Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), or 'Manchester Baby',"
  • 2016. Parallel Computing: On the Road to Exascale by Joubert, ‎Leather, ‎& Parsons; the article by Steve Furber uses "the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine (the Manchester 'Baby')" (without the hyphen) just once, and "Baby" 8 times.

What did its creators call it? edit

  • 1948. The 1948 Nature letter did not give it a name; calls it "a small electronic digital computing machine" and "the present machine" and "the machine".
  • 1951. Their 1951 paper was actually titled "UNIVERSAL HIGH-SPEED DIGITAL COMPUTERS: A SMALL-SCALE EXPERIMENTAL MACHINE" in all caps on the paper, but listed in title case at the IEEE; the wording clearly indicates that it is not a name but a description, and that text is not used inside the article at all.
  • 1953. The write-up of the conference "Bowden, B.V., ed. (1953), Faster Than Thought, London: Pitman, ISBN 0 273 41330 9", chapter 6 by Kilburn & Williams, the machine was called "a small prototype machine ... this prototype machine ... the prototype machine" (p118) and the second 1949 machine "A Large-scale Machine" (p123, heading) and "the large-scale experimental machine" (p125). Their reference to the 1951 paper has lowercase "a small-scale experimental machine".
  • 1953. In Digital computers at Manchester University by Kilburn et al., its creators called it "The Miniature Machine" (in a heading) and "the miniature machine" (in a sentence); no Baby or SSEM except in the reference to the earlier paper with subtitle "A Small Scale Experimental Machine".
  • 1965 (revised 1970) Electronic Computers by Hollingdale and Tootill (the latter being the machine's builder, who first used "a small-scale experimental machine" on his master's thesis, according to his oral history) refers to it only as "a small laboratory model" and "the first of the Manchester University experimental computers".
  • 1998 Manchester Memoirs vol. 136 "The First Computer" talk by Tom Kilburn as summarized by M. G. Hartley – "In recent times Chris Burton of the Computer Conservation Society has led a small team building a replica of 'The Baby' using the same components as those employed in the prototype machine. " (no mention of small-scale). ... Got the book; four mentions of 'Baby' or 'The Baby' (2 each) in these two pages, no mention of anything like small-scale experimental machine: "The prototype Manchester machine, the 'Baby' " (also has 'Colussus' in quotes the same way); "the replica 'Baby' machine".

The Manchester Echo Machine edit

After Wikipedia adopted "Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine" in 2006, lots of publications picked it up exactly that way (especially web pages), with "Manchester" tacked on, as none did before (note that the one pre-2006 hit you find there, a newspaper article copy, does not contain the term, but the later html page metadata does). The first to pick up the term appears to be Luijten & Simons 2007, then Porter's 2008 PhD thesis (which references Wikipedia among other sources), and then Sharpe's 2008 book on 3D animation.

I have not included all recent books that obviously just copy a name from Wikipedia and aren't really on topic. I probably included more than I should have, like the 2008 examples here that are pretty far afield from computer history.

By author edit

  • Kilburn & Williams – 1948 "a small electronic digital computing machine"; 1951 & 1953 "a small prototype machine" & "a small-scale experimental machine" in ref
  • Archibald and Lehmer – 1951 "a 'baby' machine"
  • Harvard Annals – 1951 "...a baby computing machine. The baby machine..."
  • Kilburn, Tootill, and Edwards – 1954 "the miniature machine"
  • Kilburn and Laithwaite – 1954 "the small-scale experimental machine described in Reference 2"
  • Hollingdale and Tootill – 1965 "a small laboratory model" and "the first of the Manchester University experimental computers"
  • R. Williams – 1970 "a 'baby' machine..."
  • Lavington – 1975 "The 'baby machine,' as it was called" and "The prototype machine"; 1978 "the prototypes" and "A small-scale experimental machine" in ref; 1980 "the 'baby MARK I'"; 1980 "a very small prototype computer"; 1980 "The baby machine"; 2011 "The small-scale experimental machine (SSEM), also called the Baby"
  • Kilburn – 1978 "The prototype"; 1998 (as summarized by Hartley) "'The Baby'"
  • Campbell-Kelly – 1980 "A small-scale experimental computer known as the miniature or baby machine..."; 1989 "a 'baby machine' "
  • Siewiorek, Bell, and Newell – 1982 "The 'baby machine,' as it was called"
  • M. Williams – 1985 "a small prototype computer", "This tiny test-bed machine", "This very simple machine", "the machine", "this prototype computer"
  • M. Williams and Kelly – 1989 "An experimental "baby" computer"; "a small-scale experimental machine" in ref
  • Croarken – 1990 "the Manchester 'baby' machine"; 1993 "the Manchester 'baby machine' "; "the first prototype stored-program computer (known later as the Manchester baby)"; "a prototype (or baby machine)"; "a very small prototype computer - which has become known as the Manchester baby"; "The baby machine".
  • Kidwell and Ceruzzi – 1994 "Manchester 'baby' prototype"
  • Dasgupta – 1996 "the 'baby mark i' "
  • Dyson – 1997 Dyson has "the Manchester Baby Mark I"
  • CBI newsletter – 1998 "the Manchester 'Baby' Computer"
  • Burton and his co-authors, project, and museum:
    • SSEM programmer's manual by Burton – "The Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) is the 'official' name"
    • computer50.org – "The Small-Scale Experimental Machine, known as SSEM, or the 'Baby'...", but mostly just "Baby"
    • Burton – 1998 "the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) at Manchester University" and "Manchester University's 'Baby'"; 2002 "University of Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, the 'Baby'"; 2005 "The University of Manchester's Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), known as the Baby" and "what was originally known as the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), and informally as 'The Baby' "; 2013 "the Manchester University Small-Scale Experimental Machine ('Baby')" and "the University of Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine ('Baby')" (without the hyphen), and "a small-scale experimental machine" in ref
    • Shelburne & Burton – 1998 "Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM)" and "Baby", "the Manchester 'Baby' ", "the rebuilt 'Baby' "
    • Science Museum Group – 1998 "Small-Scale Experimental Machine" and "Baby" and "It was nicknamed 'Baby' because is was a small-scale experimental prototype."
    • Burton & Lavington – 2012 "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM)" (in bio paragraph of Burton); "the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) or 'Baby'" (capped only in defining the acronym); "The SSEM: the 'Baby' computer".
  • Bardsley – 1998 "The small scale experimental machine (SSEM or the Baby)"; SSEM 88 times, Baby once.
  • Agar – 1998 "the name 'Baby' has pre-dominated in the fiftieth anniversary literature over 'Mark I' or 'Small-Scale Experimental Machine'"
  • Kahn & Napper – 2000. "This machine was known as the Small Scale Experimental Machine - or The Baby." SSEM 9 times, Baby 11 times.
  • Caminer – 2001 "These were on the ’Baby’ at Manchester University and ..."; no small-scale.
  • Napper – 2002 "a Small Scale Experimental Machine"
  • Mineralogical Mag? – 2002 "and SSEM (better known as 'Baby') at the University of Manchester"
  • Reenskaug – 2003 "the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine – 'The Baby' " (referencing the computer50.org page of that hyphen-less title)
  • Onifade – 2004 "The University of Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, the 'Baby' " and "The SSEM" (but not connected)
  • Swade – 2005 "the Manchester Baby" 2 times; no small-scale; 2013 * 2013 "Manchester 'Baby' (aka SSEM)"
  • Anderson – 2007 "the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) or 'Baby'" (caps only in defining the acronym); 2007 "the Manchester Baby", "the Manchester Baby machine", "the SSEM (Small Scale Electronic Machine)", "the Manchester Baby"; 2009 "the Manchester Baby" and "the Baby"; 2010 "the Manchester Baby or SSEM"
  • Luijten – 2007 "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM)" & "The Manchester SSEM, or Manchester Baby"
  • BBC – 2008 "Manchester's 'Baby'", "the Baby Machine", "a polished version of Baby", "the birth of Baby, or Small Scale Experimental Machine"
  • Furber – 2008 "The 'Baby' (more formally called the small-scale experimental machine, SSEM) ..."; 2016 "the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine (the Manchester 'Baby')" (without the hyphen) just once, and "Baby" 8 times
  • digital60.org – mostly calls it "Baby" but also has "Small-Scale Experimental Machine" with and without the hyphen (as well as "the small scale SSEM")
  • Hayes – 2008 "Called the Small Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), it was nicknamed the 'Manchester Baby', aka 'Mark 1 prototype' "
  • Porter, – 2008 "The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) or 'Baby',"
  • Sharpe et al. – 2008 "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (the SSEM)"
  • Atkinson – 2010 "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (also known as the 'Manchester "Baby" ')"
  • Maconie – 2009 "a University of Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (a Ferranti Mark I)"; unclear capped generic/confused?
  • Yost – 2011 "...the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) project at Victoria College, University of Manchester. SSEM, better known as the Manchester Baby..."; "the Baby project"; "the Manchester Baby computer"; "the Manchester Baby project"; "...the Baby’s instruction set, and how Newman profoundly influenced Williams and Kilburn’s overall design decisions with the Baby."
  • Copeland – 2011 "The Manchester Baby" and "the Baby" in abstract; "the Manchester Baby" 4 times in text and 3 more in refs; "Baby" about 23 more times in text; "a small-scale university pilot project"; 2011 No SSEM except in a quote from Tootill: "Small-Scale Experimental Machine [the Baby]"; "Manchester Baby" 5 times; "the Baby"; "the Baby Computer"; "the 1948 Baby"; "the actual Baby"; several times each.
  • Tarnoff – 2011 "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), the first stored-program computer. The SSEM, nicknamed 'Baby',"; "the Manchester Baby"
  • Hall – 2011 "the Manchester small-scale experimental machine, aka Baby"
  • Miyazaki – 2012 "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM)"; no Baby; capped only in defining acronym; cited Lavington 2011 which has it lowercase.
  • Link – 2012 "the Manchester 'Baby' (SSEM)"; no small-scale.
  • O'Regan – 2013 "the first stored program digital electronic computer (the Manchester 'Baby') in 1947" in abstract. "They developed the small-scale experimental machine (SSEM) in 1947, and this was the first stored program computer. It was also known as the Manchester 'Baby' computer" in text.
  • Johnson – 2013 "Manchester Baby"; "Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM)"
  • Linge – 2013 "The SSEM or 'Baby' "; "the original Manchester Baby"
  • Cooper – 2013 "the 1948 Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), or 'Manchester Baby',"
  • Gaboury – 2013 "known as the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, or 'Baby'"
  • Mamaghani – 2014 "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM)"; no Baby; capped only in defining acronym; cited Lavington 2011 which has it lowercase.
  • Nutter – 2014 "the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine ('The Baby')"
  • Haigh – 2014 "the Manchester Baby", "the Baby", and "Manchester Baby SSEM"; other 2014: "Manchester University's 'Baby' (known more formally as the Small-Scale Experimental Machine)"
  • Luvisi – 2016 "The Manchester Baby: The Small Scale Experimental Machine, also known as The Manchester Baby"
  • Doornbusch – 2017 "the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine (Baby)"
  • Woodman. – 2017 "The Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, which was nicknamed Baby,"


Referencing edit

In June 2005 the article got an actual reference (previously it has only the computer50.org external link):

  • A History of Computing Technology, by Michael A. Williams, IEEE Computer Society Press, 1997.

My earlier edition of that one doesn't use any name; and the middle initial in the ref seems to be wrong:

  • 1985. Michael R. Williams. A History of Computing Technology (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall) 0-13-389917-9 – "a small prototype computer", "This tiny test-bed machine", "This very simple machine", "the machine", "this prototype computer"; no name.

Searching inside at Amazon, I'd say the 1997 edition is about the same and still doesn't use a name for this computer.

In June 2006 we got a second reference added; this one:

  • Annals of the History of Computing, Vol 27, No. 3, Jul-Sep 2005, IEEE Computer Society

That's C. P. Burton's article "Replicating the Manchester Baby: motives, methods, and messages from the past", which uses Baby in the title. It has Burton's preferred descriptor (capped to define the acronym) in the abstract, as well as Baby a few more times, as the name:

"The University of Manchester's Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), known as the Baby, was rebuilt as a replica to celebrate, in June 1998, the 50th anniversary of the running of the world's first stored program. This article explains the background of the original Baby, and why and how a replica of it was built. The article concludes with some of the lessons learned from the project."

Conclusion edit

Pretty much the only author to treat Small-Scale Experimental Machine as a proper name is Christopher P. Burton, who was the "Project Manager of the Small-Scale Experimental Machine Rebuild Project". There's not much evidence that anyone has followed his lead on that, at least until after Wikipedia did in 2004.

The creators of the machine never referred to it as "the small-scale experimental machine", even lowercase, except in one descriptive passive by Kilburn and Laithwaite, in 1954, "such as the small-scale experimental machine described in Reference 2". Exception: Copeland 2011 quotes a personal communication from Tootill calling it that, well after Wikipedia does.

Nobody called it the "Small-Scale Experimental Machine" (capped, with or without hyphen) or SSEM before the 50th anniversary rebuild, but Burton declared that name official in his 1997 programmer's manual.

Nobody but Burton and project called it these things, up through the time the wikipedia adopted that name in 2004 (at which time the article was unreferenced and had only one external link, to the 50th anniversary web site, so it's clear the name came from there, not from general usage). Agar 1998 mentioned this name, capped, only once in explaining why it was not much used.

Nobody called it the "Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine" (capped, with or without hyphen) before Wikipedia did in 2006 (though C. P. Burton came close in 2002 with ""University of Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, the 'Baby'"). A few have copied Wikipedia's name since (Yost 2011, Tarnoff 2011, Cooper 2013, Nutter 2014, and lots of web pages).

Are there exceptions to the "nobody"? If I find any I'll list them here:

  • Near exception: 2002 (after the Burton rebuild but before the Wikipedia article). Rojas & Hashagen (2002), article by R. B. E. Napper says, "By June 1948 the team had built a Small Scale Experimental Machine to Tom Kilburn's design, the SSEM, or just 'The Baby';" without hyphen, and not "the". And the index for this says "see Manchester Baby".
  • Near exception: Reenskaug 2003 has it without the hyphen, from the computer50.org page titled "The Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine – 'The Baby' "
  • Maybe exception depending on the timing: Onifade 2004 has "The University of Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine, the 'Baby' "
  • Possible exception: Anderson's Turing 2004 conference talk (a 2005–2007 written version of a 2004 talk, published finally in 2008) has "the Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) or 'Baby'". No hyphen, caps only where defining the acronym, likely from after Wikipedia adopted the hyphenated capped name, perhaps after Wikipedia added the Manchester (his pubs page lists it as 2008). Mostly refers to it as the SSEM (17 times), the Baby (6 times), and the Manchester Baby (5 times, including in the title).

An overwhelming majority of authors call it "Baby": Archibald and Lehmer, Harvard Annals, R. Williams, Lavington, Kilburn, Campbell-Kelly, Siewiorek Bell & Newell, Williams & Kelly, Croarken, Kidwell & Ceruzzi, Dasgupta, Dyson, CBI newsletter, Burton, Shelburne, computer50.org, Science Museum Group, Hayes, Agar, Bardsley, Kahn & Napper, Caminer, Mineralogical Mag, Swade, Anderson, BBC, Furber, digital60.org, Atkinson, Yost, Copeland, Tarnoff, Link, O'Regan, Johnson, Linge, Cooper, Nutter, Haigh, Woodman.

Are there authors who call it Small-Scale Experimental Machine and not Baby? Just a few: Sharpe et al. 2008; Miyazaki 2012; Mamaghani 2014 – note that all three of these use exactly the Wikipedia 2006 title "Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine", and have only brief offhand mentions of the machine. Good examples of the unreasonable effectiveness of Wikipedia?

Are there authors who call it Baby but not Small-Scale Experimental Machine? Yes, many: Archibald and Lehmer, Harvard Annals, R. Williams, Kilburn, Siewiorek Bell & Newell, Croarken, Kidwell & Ceruzzi, Dasgupta, Dyson, CBI newsletter, Caminer, Swade, Copeland, Link, Linge. Plus a few who called it Baby and used only lowercase small-scale experimental computer: Campbell-Kelly (1980), M. Williams & Kelly (1989), Lavington (2011), O'Regan (2013).

Most authors who do not call it Baby also do not call it Small-Scale Experimental Machine (F.C. Williams, Tootill, Edwards, Laithwaite, Hollingdale).

More recent finds edit

Google's Computer Heritage project made a YouTube video "Manchester Baby: world's first stored program computer" and blog "'You’ve come a long way, Baby': remembering the world’s first stored program computer" in 2013. The blog mentions "Manchester Small Scale Experimental Machine" with link to the Wikipedia article.

I. J. Good's notes (Irving J. Good Papers, Ms1982-018, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA) include pages from 1947 on the Baby architecture and instruction set design has heading "THE BABY MACHINE:". I can share some pages for research on request, but their terms do not allow me to republish. This papers collection also includes a copy of Good's 1976 letter to Lavington with which he sent a copy of these 1947 notes on the Baby.

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