Belmont G. Farley, 87, pioneer in computers

Belmont Greenlee Farley, 87, a pioneer researcher who helped build computers to study how the brain works and was codeveloper of the first transistorized computer, died of Alzheimer's disease Feb. 28 at Cathedral Village. He was a longtime resident of Bala Cynwyd.

Dr. Farley was born in 1920 in Cape Girardeau, Mo. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1941 from the University of Maryland.

He was accepted into the doctoral program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but World War II interrupted his studies.

During the war, Dr. Farley was on an MIT research team that developed an improved version of radar that detected planes flying at lower altitudes. The team flew to England to test this radar against low-flying Luftwaffe planes during the bombing of London.

"My father vividly remembered watching the clustered blips on radar oscilloscopes as German planes swooped across the English Channel," said his son Malcolm.

After the war, Dr. Farley earned a doctorate in physics in 1948 from Yale University. That year, he joined the research team headed by William Shockley that developed the transistor at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J.

Returning to MIT in 1953, Dr. Farley worked with a group that developed a magnetic core memory for the transistorized computer, known as the Whirlwind Project.

Dr. Farley's groundbreaking research with W.A. Clark on neural networks began in 1954.

In 1964, Dr. Farley joined the University of Pennsylvania as a teacher and researcher on the electrophysiology of seizures and neural networks.

"My father looked like a mad scientist, with wispy white hair and not exactly the latest fashions," his son said. "But it was fun being his son. He read all of Shakespeare to me at 16, played the classical piano, and had a passion for contemporary art."

In 1969, Dr. Farley became the second member of Temple University's new Department of Computer and Information Science, his son said. He retired in 1986.

In addition to his son, Dr. Farley is survived by his wife of 55 years, Elizabeth Billhime Farley; another son, Martin; a sister; and a brother. His son Jefferson preceded him in death.

Services are being planned.