[SIGCIS-Members] Bartik autobiography available / Colossus name?

[William McMillan]

Evan, only a guess, but RE the name Colossus, how about the Colossus of
Rhodes?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_of_Rhodes

"...constructed to celebrate Rhodes' victory over the ruler of Cyprus,
Antigonus
I Monophthalmus <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigonus_I_Monophthalmus>,
whose son unsuccessfully besieged Rhodes in 305 BC."

Britain was under threat of invasion when the computer was built, if not
technically under siege.

- Bill



On Wed, Nov 13, 2013 at 5:18 PM, Evan Koblentz <evan at snarc.net> wrote:

> SIGCIS'ers,
>
> Jean Bartik's autobiography is now available at
> http://tsup.truman.edu/item.asp?itemid=480. There is also an e-book
> version at Amazon. (I recently learned that Kindle books can be read
> through a browser or through an iOS/Android app -- you don't need a Kindle
> device.)
>
> Also: Does anyone know how the British Colossus computer got its name,
> other than the general assumption "because it was big"...? I emailed TNMOC
> about this. They wrote back and said they don't know and that nobody ever
> asked.
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