Background
Development of MUSE—a name derived from microsecond engine—began at Manchester University in 1956. The aim was to build a computer that could operate at processing speeds approaching one microsecond per instruction, about one million instructions per second. Mu (or µ) is a prefix in the SI and other systems of units denoting a factor of 10−6 (one millionth).
At the end of 1958 Ferranti agreed to collaborate with Manchester University on the project, and the computer was shortly afterwards renamed Atlas, with the joint venture under the control of Tom Kilburn. The first Atlas was officially commissioned on 7 December 1962, and was considered at that time to be equivalent to four IBM 7094s and nearly as fast at the IBM 7030 Stretch, then the world's fastest supercomputer.
Read more about this topic: Atlas (computer)
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