COPElAND & BOwEN | 11
1946 Presents his report ‘Proposed electronic calculator’ to the NPL’s Executive
Committee. This contains the first detailed design of a stored-program computer.
His OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire), awarded by King
George VI for wartime service, arrives in the post.Regularly runs 15 miles from the NPL to Flowers’ lab in north London,
to consult on hardware. Joins Walton Athletic Club and turns in winning
performances in long-distance races.Begins a series of weekly lectures on ACE at London’s Adelphi Hotel; the
lectures end in February 1947.1947 Visits America to attend a computer conference at Harvard University. He
is not invited to lecture by organizer Howard Aiken, but dominates in post-
lecture discussions, especially on memory design.Gives the earliest known lecture to mention computer intelligence, at
Burlington House in London’s Piccadilly. This is the public debut of a field
now called ‘artificial intelligence’ (AI).Pioneers computer programming and builds up a large software library at the
NPL.Fumes at lack of progress on ACE hardware – wants to solder the computer
together himself.Comes fifth in a large qualifying event for the 1948 London Olympics.
Decides to enter Olympic trials, but develops a hip problem, quashing his
Olympic hopes.Very fed up with the NPL. Returns to Cambridge for a 12-month sabbatical.
Plans to play lots of tennis.Does pioneering work on machine intelligence in Cambridge.
Invents the LU (lower–upper) decomposition method, used in numerical
analysis for solving matrix equations.