Changes

''"Imagine spending years of your life working on a cutting-edge new invention for the government - which incidentally you have to part-pay-for out of your own pocket - only to be told to smash it to pieces and burn all evidence. This is exactly what happened to Tommy Flowers and even now, nearly 70 years later, his first computer, Colossus, is still far more well-known than he is.  

''"Imagine spending years of your life working on a cutting-edge new invention for the government - which incidentally you have to part-pay-for out of your own pocket - only to be told to smash it to pieces and burn all evidence. This is exactly what happened to Tommy Flowers and even now, nearly 70 years later, his first computer, Colossus, is still far more well-known than he is.  

A dapper man [YouTube] walks down an institutional corridor, turns right into a room, flicks on the light switch and shuts the door: “This was our Battersea Bridge Laboratory,” he says, making his way into the large grey and white space.

''A dapper man [YouTube] walks down an institutional corridor, turns right into a room, flicks on the light switch and shuts the door: “This was our Battersea Bridge Laboratory,” he says, making his way into the large grey and white space.

“And [this is] where we assembled the first Colossus…”

“And [this is] where we assembled the first Colossus…”

This has led to numerous biographies, films and other dramatic portrayals of Turing. “[Yet] there has been nothing comparable for Flowers, for whom words like ‘kindly’, ‘modest’, ‘self-effacing’ are as appropriate as ‘brilliant’ and ‘inventive’.”''

This has led to numerous biographies, films and other dramatic portrayals of Turing. “[Yet] there has been nothing comparable for Flowers, for whom words like ‘kindly’, ‘modest’, ‘self-effacing’ are as appropriate as ‘brilliant’ and ‘inventive’.”''

 

<ref>http://www.idgconnect.com/abstract/9092/tommy-flowers-the-forgotten-father-computing </ref>

<ref>http://www.idgconnect.com/abstract/9092/tommy-flowers-the-forgotten-father-computing </ref>

There is an online campaign to hold an annual "Tommy Flowers Day" in his honor. <ref> http://www.idgconnect.com/blog-abstract/10858/planning-tommy-flowers-day-2016-reasons-join-crusade</ref>

There is an online campaign to hold an annual "Tommy Flowers Day" in his honor. <ref> http://www.idgconnect.com/blog-abstract/10858/planning-tommy-flowers-day-2016-reasons-join-crusade</ref>