The first transistor electronic Calculator in the world was produced by the Italian company Olivetti. “Elea” is the name of the project conceived, designed and developed between 1957 and 1959 by a small group of young researchers led by the Italian-Chinese engineer Mario Tchou.
During the evening at TCD we will reveal the history of this machine and its developer.
Speakers include:
- Elisabetta Mori (Visiting scientist at Software Heritage, Paris) THE DESIGN OF ELEA 9003
- Ciaj Rocchi and Matteo Demonte (Author) MARIO TCHOU IN THE BOOK “LA MACCHINA ZERO”
- Chiara Giuliani (Assistant Professor, Dip. of Italian UCC) MARIO TCHOU AND THE CHINESE COMMUNITY IN ITALY
The event is organized by the Italian Cultural Institute together with CONNECT, the SFI Research Center for Future Networks of Trinity College Dublin.
The language used will be English. Free access by reservation EVENTBRITE: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-first-italian-electronic-calculator-tickets-523494344677
or below
WATCH THE BOOKTRAILER OF “LA MACCHINA ZERO” (SET ENGLISH SUBTITLES) HERE —> La Macchina Zero Booktrailer – YouTubeLa Macchina Zero Booktrailer – YouTube
Bio
Ciaj Rocchi (1976) e Matteo Demonte (1973) sono illustratori, videomaker e autori di fumetti.
Hanno pubblicato le graphic novel Primavere e Autunni (BeccoGiallo 2015 – Selezione premio Andersen) e Chinamen, un secolo di cinesi a Milano (BeccoGiallo 2017 – selezione Gran Guinigi)che è anche un documentario a disegni animati ed è stato una mostra allestita al Mudec di Milano tra marzo e aprile 2017.
Tutte e due le graphic novel sono state tradotte in lingua cinese e pubblicate dall’editore Dangdang. Nel 2021 hanno pubblicato La Macchina Zero, Mario Tchou e il primo computer Olivetti (Ed. Solferino) e nel 2022 Le stelle di Dora, Le sfide del Generale dalla Chiesa.
Elisabetta Mori
Elisabetta Mori holds a PhD in History and Philosophy of Computing (Middlesex University, London). She attended courses on architecture in Eindhoven and Florence, from where she received her master’s degree (high Hons.) with a dissertation on the history and design of the first Italian commercial computer by Olivetti, ELEA 9003. The focus of her academic research is the European history of computing, with a special interest in Software Preservation and Human-Computer Interaction. She is a professionally trained oral historian. She is a visiting scientist at Software Heritage, and a member of the French ANR-funded project PROGRAMme. She is aso a member of the Computer Conservation Society and of the LEO Computers Society in the UK. Her collaborations include the Museum of Computing Machinery of the University of Pisa, Italy.
Chiara Giuliani
She was awarded with a doctoral degree from the University of St Andrews in 2015, with a thesis entitled Negotiating Home Spaces: Spatial Practices in Italian Postcolonial Literature. She received a BA in English and Spanish Literature from the University of Bologna in 2008 and completed her Master’s Degree in Comparative Literature and Postcolonial Cultures at the University of Bologna in 2010 with a final dissertation on Somali-Italian women writers and the controversial relationship between these two countries.
Research Interests
In her PhD thesis, she analysed selected Italian postcolonial novels from a spatial perspective, investigating the ways in which specific spaces come to play crucial roles in the narration. She examined the strategies through which characters (first generation migrants or with migrant origins) try to appropriate certain spaces, in the attempt to recreate feelings of home. The corpus comprised the work of Cristina Ubax Ali-Farah, Igiaba Scego, Shirin Ramzanali Fazel, Amara Lakhous and Gabriella Kuruvilla.
In her current research project, she investigates the ambiguities that shape the socio-economic relations between Italy and China and the role played by the Chinese community in Italy.
Reservation no longer available