Most American readers of Computing Reviews are familiar with the development of ENIAC at the Moore School, University of Pennsylvania, in 1946. Projects at Penn, the Institute of Advanced Studies at Princeton, the University of Illinois, and MIT all focused on governmental projects that can be characterized as “science.” Since the commercial use of computers far outweighs their scientific and military uses today, one might wonder where such use began. Setting aside for the moment the obvious link between the use of punched-card accounting methods and their later automation via digital computers, one must conclude that the Lyons Electric Office, or LEO, was unquestionably the first disciplined approach to commercial data processing. This book provides unique insights into one of the most innovative organizations of its time, through the eyes and memories of Lyons employees. With no disrespect toward the fine work of historians such as Martin Campbell-Kelly [1] and Peter Bird [2], the reminiscences of the participants make this book special and valuable.

In May and June of 1947, T. R. Thompson and O. W. Standingford visited the United States:

Our object in inquiring into the nature and possibilities of this machine [the ENIAC] was to find out whether it, or any adaptation of it, was capable of being put to use in commercial offices, and, if this was not the case, to try to stimulate the development of such a machine (p. 337).

In the trip report that contains the above statement, the authors outline the technical accomplishments of various researchers, the basic operations of such a machine, and the potential applications, such as “sales invoicing, letter writing, and payroll,” and discuss their visits to the Institute for Advanced Study, the University of Pennsylvania, the Electronic Control Company, Radio Corporation of America Laboratories, International Business Machines, National Cash Register, Burroughs Adding Machine, the US Army Aberdeen Proving Ground, Prudential Insurance, and the Computation Laboratory of Harvard University. On their return to England, they visited Maurice Wilkes at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge. This trip report demonstrates why Lyons was so successful: they did their homework. Thompson and Standingford visited most of the important places where computer research was being undertaken and spoke to the pioneers of the discipline. In so doing, they gained a clear understanding of what a computer could do and how to build one. The decision by Lyons management to proceed was based on first-class “systems analysis.”

We would be remiss if we did not point out that many of the processes that we normally associate with systems analysis today were first used by, or have been derived from, those used by Lyons employees in the analysis, design, and implementation of various applications.

The book is an excellent read, both for the reader familiar with the early history of computing and for the historical neophyte. Caminer opens the book with the following background:

The world’s first routine office job to be run regularly on a stored-program electronic computer started its productive life on Thursday 29 November 1951. The computer was LEO, a one-off system built by J. Lyons & Co., a leading English catering firm, for its own use…The job carried out was concerned with the valuation of the variety of bread, cakes, and pies produced in the several bakeries…and their assembly and despatch [sic] to the company’s retail and wholesale channels and to the many catering establishments.

Part 1, “The Story of Innovation,” contains an excellent timeline and 13 chapters that trace the evolution of Lyons activities. These chapters highlight how innovative this company was. When most people had not heard of the computer, and when others--only later called “computer scientists”--were calculating scientific equations, a group of “methods people” in a tea company had a vision of an automated office--something that would not achieve widespread appeal until the 1970s (in the US).

Part 2, “Pioneers,” and Part 3, “Innovators,” contain 11 chapters that examine different aspects of the Lyons efforts. In 1954, Lyons decided to build the LEO II and to offer it for sale to other organizations. In that same year, Lyons formed LEO Computers Ltd., which received its first order in February of 1956. The innovations continued through a number of mergers, culminating in the formation of ICL in July of 1968. In 1981, the last LEO 326s were decommissioned by the Post Office.

The book concludes with Part 4, “Innovating Abroad and an Evaluation,” and three appendices. The latter contain excerpts from the 1947 Trip Report referred to earlier, an interview with J. R. M. Simmons, Director and Chief Comptroller (at the time this effort started), and a “Demonstration Script (1955) for the Teashops Distribution Job.” All of these make the reader wish there more room for such marvelous artifacts of this rich history.