My first computer was a Modus Systems Edukit, complete with 20 key keyboard, two digit, seven segment hexadecimal display, RCA COSMAC 1802 processor and a wapping 256 bytes of RAM. This machine was very similar to the more famous Tiny Elf, for which a Mac OSX Emulator programme exists. The 1802 was a bizarre little beast: it was an 8-bit CMOS processor with 16 16-bit general purpose registers. A 4-bit register specified which of these was the programme counter: this was how you did subroutines.
Next came a Multitech MicroProfessor, a Z80-based machine bought through Flite Electronics, who still seem to make and sell the things! In its way, this machine was just as odd as the Edukit. It had 40 keys and a 6-digit 7-segment display that could display alphanumeric characters (just). It even had a 2k Tiny Basic interpreter and a thermal printer. Another plus was a cassette interface so that you could actually save programmes once the power had gone off. I also had a texas Instruments TI-57 calculator.
I studied Computer Science as one of my A-Levels at school, where we had a couple of Research Machines 380Zs. We programmed in Propsero Pascal and Assembler, trying to out-do each other over how many compiler error messages we could get.
At university. I came across S-Algol, and discovered the joys of FORTRAN. At this time I bought an Atari 520ST, which I programmed in 68000 Assembler and BASIC.
Work brought exposure to C & Matlab, as well as Lua, via the Finite Element Model Magnetics (FEMME) package.
I use SAS and Ithink these days. I have also used Genstat and R for statistical modelling.
Many years ago, I did a PhD on "Electron Heating in Collisionless Plasma Shock Waves" in the Plasma Physics group at St Andrews University.
Once upon a time, I had the time to read and listen to music. My loves are JS Bach, Igor Stravinsky, Olivier Messiaen, Charles Dickens, Joseph Conrad & Iris Murdoch.