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, 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@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.
_______________________________________________
This email is relayed from members@sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members