Interviewee: John M.M. Pinkerton

Interviewee: John M.M. Pinkerton 1919-1997

Interviewer: Chris Evans

Date of Interview: 1975

Role in LEO: Chief Engineer

Joined LEO: 1948

Abstract: John Pinkerton joined Lyons as chief engineer at the very beginning of the LEO initiative and led the engineering side until the merger with English Electric. He held senior engineering appointments within the merged companies until his retirement. Much of the success of the LEO enterprise lay in his genius for bringing innovative ideas to practical fruition – one of the true heroes of the information age.

Repository: London Science Museum

Audio Recording: Tape 6 in Christopher Evans’s ‘Pioneers of Computing’

Transcript: Evans, Chris, (1983) Pioneers of Computing, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing,

Vol. 5, No 1, pp 64-72, January-March.

Copyright: Audio, London Science Museum, Transcript, IEEE

Please Note: This item is not in the LEO Computers collection and is included here for signposting purposes only.

Repository:http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/53242/John-Pinkerton-Interview/

Date : 1975

Interviewee: John M.M. Pinkerton (1919 – 1997)

Interviewer: John Pinkerton, self interview

Date of Interview: 23.08.1988

Role in LEO: Chief Engineer

Joined LEO: 1948

Abstract: Pinkerton begins by discussing his education and wartime work in radar technology in England. He then describes his movement into the computer industry after World War II and his work on the LEO I and LEO II computers. In this context he discusses the British computer firms J. Lyons and Company, LEO Computers, English Electric Co., and International Computers Ltd.

Repository: Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Transcript: 54 pages

Copyright: Charles Babbage Institute

To view this a transcript of this interview, click on the following link :

External Link : Click Here >>>

Please Note: This item is not in our collection and is included here for signposting purposes only.

Date : 23rd August 1988

Repository: http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/53241/John-Pinkerton-Self-Interview/

Leave a Comment