W. Grey Walter, I.B.M., Charles Eames & The Tortoise

Why are all these names together in a post title? Well, one of the 1951 batch of 6 tortoises was sent off to a museum. Actually, is was on loan to Charles Eames (yes, the same Eames who was a designer, amongst other things) who was contracted to design and mount an exhibition for the …

W. Grey Walter, Edmund C. Berkeley and the Toy Business

W. Grey Walter's early contact with Edmund C. Berkeley. Who is Edmund C. Berkeley? Probably more renowned for building what has been now considered as the first Personal Computer, called 'Simon' and construction details were published in Radio Electronics in 13 parts from 1950 to 1951. He wrote a book on computers called Giant Brains …

W. Grey Walter and the Festival of Britain (1951)

The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition which opened in London and around Britain on 3 May 1951 and finished the end of September the same year. At that time, shortly after the end of World War II, much of London was still in ruins and redevelopment was badly needed. The Festival was an …

1957-60 – Grey Walter’s Transistorized Tortoise

This entry describes two references to transistorized versions of Grey Walter's tortoises. The second reference refers to people and organisations mentioned in another post on W. Grey Walter and Edmund C. Berkeley . 1957 Jan 25 [WGW response to letter.] The main difficulty is in the mechanical assembly, particularly the gearbox which has to be completely …

W. Grey Walter and Norbert Wiener

 In Owen Holland’s original paper "Legacy…." , he gives a description of Grey’s first impression of him …   "Walter’s own view of Wiener can be seen in a letter to Professor Adrian in 1947: We had a visit yesterday from a Professor Wiener, from Boston. I met him over there last winter and find his …