Brian Randell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1936 (age 89–90) |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Alma mater | Imperial College London |
| Known for | ALGOL 60, softwarefault tolerance,dependability, early pre-1950history of computing hardware |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer science |
| Institutions | Newcastle University |
| Notable students | Roy H. Campbell |
Brian Randell (born 1936) is a Britishcomputer scientist, and emeritus professor at the School of Computing,Newcastle University, United Kingdom. He specialises in research into softwarefault tolerance anddependability, and is a noted authority on the early pre-1950history of computing hardware.
Randell was employed atEnglish Electric from 1957 to 1964 where he was working oncompilers. His work onALGOL 60 is particularly well known, including the development of the Whetstone compiler for theEnglish Electric KDF9, an early stack machine.[1] In 1964, he joinedIBM, where he worked at theThomas J. Watson Research Center on high performancecomputer architectures and also onoperating system design methodology. In May 1969, he became a professor of computing science at the then named University of Newcastle upon Tyne, where he has worked since then in the area of softwarefault tolerance anddependability.
He is a member of the Special Interest Group on Computers, Information and Society (SIGCIS) of the Society for the History of Technology CIS, and a founding member of the Editorial Board of theIEEE Annals of the History of Computing journal. He is a Fellow of theAssociation for Computing Machinery (2008). He was elected aFellow of the Learned Society of Wales in 2011.[2]
He was, until 1969, a member of theInternational Federation for Information Processing (IFIP)IFIP Working Group 2.1 (WG2.1) on Algorithmic Languages and Calculi,[3] whichspecified, maintains, and supports theprogramming languagesALGOL 60 andALGOL 68.[4] He is also a founding member of IFIP WG2.3 on Programming Methodology, and of IFIP WG10.4 on Dependability and Fault Tolerance.
He is married (to Liz, a teacher of French) and has four children.[5]
Brian Randell's main research interests are in the field of computer science, specifically on system dependability and fault tolerance. His interest in the history of computing was started by coming across the then almost unknown work ofPercy Ludgate. This was over thirty years ago, when he was preparing an inaugural lecture, and led to his producing the book: "The Origins of Computers". This triggered his further investigation of the Colossus wartime code-breaking machines.[1]
In 1972, Randell wrote to Prime MinisterTed Heath regarding the wartime status ofBletchley Park, and obtained the first-ever admission of the existence of the wartime organisation, let alone its impact.[6][7][8] Subsequently, the role of Bletchley Park and its main outstation at Eastcote, in reducing the length ofWorld War II, has been widely acknowledged, as is the pioneering role of theColossus computer in the history of the development of computing.
Randell was researching the history of computer science in Britain for a conference on the history of computing held at theLos Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico on 10–15 June 1976, and got permission to present a paper on wartime development of the COLOSSI at thePost Office Research Station, Dollis Hill (in October 1975 the British Government released a series of captioned photographs from the Public Record Office). The interest in the "revelations" in his paper resulted in a special evening meeting when Randell andAllen Coombs answered further questions. In 1977, Randell published an articleThe First Electronic Computer in several journals.[a][9]
In the 1960s, Randell was "involved in the originalNATO Software Engineering Conferences" in 1968 on Software engineering. At the time he was working at IBM in the secret Project Y[clarification needed] and then ACS[clarification needed] super-computer projects.
Starting in the 1970s, Randell "set up the project that initiated research into the possibility of softwarefault tolerance, and introduced therecovery block concept. Subsequent major developments included theNewcastle Connection,[10][11] and the prototype distributed Secure System".[12]
In the 1990s, Randell "became involved in a project to improvedata networking provisions in the North of England, and to promote their effective use by all sectors of the community. This project resulted in the setting up of NiAA, the Northern Informatics Applications Agency". He wrote: "I served for several years as a member of NiAA's Management Group, until my attempts to delegate this to others bore fruit! NiAA existed, and worked to good effect, for seven years."[13]
Randell has for many years been one of the leading members of the team of volunteers responsible forGENUKI, the web portal forGenealogy in the United Kingdom and Ireland. He maintains the pages relating to the county ofDevon, and has transcribed and made available online many documents of genealogical interest.
Randell published several articles and books. A selection:[14]
Articles
