Startling new evidence has emerged that the UK really does value its computer scientists after all. Steve Furber, a designer involved with creating the BBC Micro, has been made a commander of the British empire – a mere 27 years after the fact.
Furber lived a true Monte Carlo lifestyle that most of us can only dream of. He represented the UK in the International Mathematical Olympiad in Hungary in 1970, where rumour has it he calculated pi to 17,000 decimal places.
This is an exceptional feat considering that Downtime can only calculate pi to three places, namely, in the oven, in our mouth and in our stomach.
In 1978, Furber was appointed Rolls-Royce research fellow in aerodynamics, but he left after he was told he could not borrow the cars on weekends.
