[SIGCIS-Members] Babbage Engine - Full Technical Description on Open Access

[Doron Swade]

HI Brian

Many thanks for your kind words and your warming encouragement all these
years.

Best wishes

Doron

 

From: Brian Randell <brian.randell at newcastle.ac.uk> 
Sent: Saturday, December 2, 2023 3:31 PM
To: doron.swade at blueyonder.co.uk
Cc: members at lists.sigcis.org
Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Babbage Engine - Full Technical Description on
Open Access

 

Hi Doron:

 

Many thanks - and congratulations, on a truly wonderful project, and now
this splendid documentation.

 

Cheers

 

Brian

 

-

 

School of Computing, Newcastle University, 1 Science Square, Newcastle upon
Tyne, NE4 5TG

EMAIL = Brian.Randell at ncl.ac.uk <mailto:Brian.Randell at ncl.ac.uk>    PHONE =
+44 191 208 7923

URL =  https://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/staff/profile/brianrandell.html

 

On 02/12/2023, 15:01, "Members" <members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org
<mailto:members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org> > wrote:

 

Dear All 

 

I am pleased to report that the full technical description of Charles
Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2 has recently been made available online on
open access by the Science Museum (London). 

 

The Engine was built to Babbage's original drawings (1847-1849) and
completed in 2002. It has 8,000 parts, weighs 5 tonnes, and works as Babbage
intended. It is the first of Babbage's calculating engines to be built in
its entirety. 

 

Over the decades-long life of the project I documented the interpretation of
the 19th-century drawings, the design decisions made in its construction,
its assembly, operational debugging, and what was learned from running the
Engine for countless live public demonstrations. 

 

A full description of the Engine is presented in two works available online:


 

Difference Engine No.2 Technical Description
<https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-09/DE2_Technical_
Description.pdf
<https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-09/DE2_Technical_
Description.pdf%3e> > (232 pages, 131 illustrations) 

Provides a detailed interpretation of Babbage's design, and documents the
technical understanding that informed the successful construction of the
working machine. 

 

Difference Engine No.2 User Manual
<https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-08/User_Manual_PD
F_Vsn_1.1_Final_SEC1.pdf
<https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-08/User_Manual_PD
F_Vsn_1.1_Final_SEC1.pdf%3e> > (147 pages, 199 illustrations) 

Documents the practical procedures for operating the Engine safely, setting
up a calculation, testing, trouble-shooting, fault-finding, and maintenance
including lubrication. 

 

The two documents are free-standing i.e. relevant drawing-excerpts are
embedded in the text so that understanding does not, for the most part, rely
on reference to the full 19th-century design drawings. 

 

Direct Browser Links: 

Technical Description: 

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-09/DE2_Technical_D
escription.pdf
<https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-09/DE2_Technical_
Description.pdf
<https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-09/DE2_Technical_
Description.pdf%3e> > 

User Manual: 

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-08/User_Manual_PDF
_Vsn_1.1_Final_SEC1.pdf
<https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-08/User_Manual_PD
F_Vsn_1.1_Final_SEC1.pdf
<https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-08/User_Manual_PD
F_Vsn_1.1_Final_SEC1.pdf%3e> > 

 

Additional Material 

 

The Babbage Papers at the Science Museum:
<https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/aa110000003/the-babb
age-papers
<https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/aa110000003/the-babb
age-papers%3e> > 

 

* Digitised archive of Babbage papers including full technical archive and
Notebooks. 

https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/aa110000003/the-babba
ge-papers
<https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/aa110000003/the-babb
age-papers
<https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/aa110000003/the-babb
age-papers%3e> > 

 

Charles Babbage's Difference Engines and the Science Museum | Science Museum
<https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/charles-babbages-diffe
rence-engines-and-science-museum
<https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/charles-babbages-diffe
rence-engines-and-science-museum%3e> > 

 

* Short contextual and historical summary. 

* Links to the Technical Description and User Manual are in Further Reading.


https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/charles-babbages-differ
ence-engines-and-science-museum
<https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/charles-babbages-diffe
rence-engines-and-science-museum
<https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/charles-babbages-diffe
rence-engines-and-science-museum%3e> > 

 

Citation: 

Swade, Doron, Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2: Technical
Description. Science Museum, 2023. 

Swade Doron, Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2: User Manual. Science
Museum, 2023. 

 

Best wishes 

Doron Swade 

 

 

 

 

 

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