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Public Speaking

My advice to Harold Wilson et al

The oldest member of Ipswich Electrifiers, Norman Sanders, 90, has just published his latest book. Appropriately named My Computing Life, this riveting read reveals Norman’s part in the international development of computers, and the advice he dispensed to world leaders along the way.

Norman Sanders

At 90 years old, Norman Sanders may be the oldest paid-up member of Ipswich Electrifiers (and perhaps Toastmasters International?), but he is still giving speeches and sharing new insights into the world around us.

Some of this has been distilled into his latest book, My Computing Life, available from Amazon (see below). Norman starts at the very beginning, with a quick look at time as exemplified by artefacts and monuments still with us: Stonehenge, the antikithera, Grimes Graves, before moving to the early history of computers, 1623-1970.

Harold Wilson
Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who dined with Norman in Seattle and picked his brains on the development of computing in Britain in the 1960s

But most fascinating is Norman’s involvement. Who knew that Norman was an advisor on computing to the United Nations? Or that when he worked in Seattle for Boeing, he entertained Prime Minister Harold Wilson to dinner. Norman advised him on the development of computing in Britain, giving Wilson ideas that materialised in his now famous ‘white heat’ speech at the Labour Party Conference in Scarborough in 1963.

727 aircraft designed by CAD
The 727 aircraft, the first product of CAD (computer-aided design and manufacture) co-invented by Norman at Boeing

Since then Norman has worked all over the globe, mingling with the innovators of the computing world, inspiring people young and old to take an interest in mathematics – and delighting everyone with his lively presentations.

My Computing Life is available from Amazon

Last Updated on August 19, 2023