Recreating a pioneering 1940s computer

8 January 2013 Last updated at 19:18 ET Help

The recreation of the pioneering Edsac - Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator- computer has begun, with the manufacture of parts of its chassis starting in Cambridge.

Edsac was designed by Prof Maurice Wilkes and first ran software in 1949, and has been credited with assisting many important scientists at Cambridge University.

The project started in 2011, using the few remaining design documents and 'back-engineering' from what little remained of the original machine.

It is hoped the recreated computer will be operational by 2015.

Video Journalist: Dan Curtis

Archive footage and stills reproduced with kind permission of Cambridge University Computer Laboratory

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