Richard Feynman and the Connection Machine
> <i>To find out how well this would work in practice, Feynman had to write a computer program for QCD. Since the only computer language Richard was really familiar with was Basic, he made up a parallel version of Basic in which he wrote the program and then simulated it by hand to estimate how fast it would run on the Connection Machine.</i><p>I have most of Feynman's memoirs and a few of his biographies, but I only see scant references to his work in computing, possibly because they seem so trivial to his other accomplishments. That said, it would be interesting to read more about his computational work, given, as the OP says, that he was also very much a pencil and paper guy.