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All -<br>
<br>
I was at the HNF in early 2015 for research. The staff and the space
are both fantastic.<br>
<br>
This exhibit wasn't running at that time, but it looks to be part of
their life-sized ENIAC "model." They have enough floor space set
aside so a visitor can walk inside the machine as one might have in
the 1940s. Although there are very few artifacts or interactive
panels, it does help one appreciate the actual magnitude of the
computer.<br>
<br>
I assume this reconstruction helps fill out the rest of the picture.<br>
<br>
To directly address Mark's question, RE: exhibiting the essence
machine programming, I felt that many of the HNF exhibits focused on
tackling the encoding of information through history - ancient
record keeping, Morse code, Jacquard loom - which leads up to the
ENIAC installation. That's likely the through line here. I like the
thought of conveying more abstract concepts like conditional
branching and functional programming <br>
<br>
/Schmüdde<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 11/18/16 11:36 AM,
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:members-request@lists.sigcis.org">members-request@lists.sigcis.org</a> wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:mailman.5227.1479486975.6134.members-sigcis.org@lists.sigcis.org"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2016 16:36:12 +0000
From: Mark Priestley <a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:m.priestley@gmail.com"><m.priestley@gmail.com></a>
To: Sigcis <a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:members@sigcis.org"><members@sigcis.org></a>
Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Fwd: CCS News - 2016 Tony Sale Award
winner
Message-ID:
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:CAHWAic2n0bpEqicTrpUFibXQM3RWumDZ6zHWn0HA4AJrwG0Cqw@mail.gmail.com"><CAHWAic2n0bpEqicTrpUFibXQM3RWumDZ6zHWn0HA4AJrwG0Cqw@mail.gmail.com></a>
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Hello list,
That looks like a nice exhibit, but I must admit that the video leaves me
wondering just what insight it gives into programming ENIAC, as opposed to
operating it. It looks like the demonstrator is setting up operations on
the exhibit one at a time, and then executing them by hand. Actual ENIAC
usage, of course, involved setting up a whole series of instructions at
once (including loops, conditional branches etc) and then letting them
execute automatically.
ENIAC "programmers" - more properly, perhaps, the machine's developers, the
scientists who used it, and the operators who helped them - used a variety
of graphical notations to plan these set-ups. An simple example is at
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://markpriestley.net/akg.pdf">http://markpriestley.net/akg.pdf</a> - this diagram shows exactly how to set
the switches and plug the wires to calculate n, n<sup class="moz-txt-sup"><span style="display:inline-block;width:0;height:0;overflow:hidden">^</span>2</sup> and n<sup class="moz-txt-sup"><span style="display:inline-block;width:0;height:0;overflow:hidden">^</span>3</sup>, stopping
before an overflow happens. Even with a simulator, this is quite hard to
follow ...
The same goes for other reconstructions, in my experience. For example,
watching the Colossus rebuild working at Bletchley Park is a wonderful
experience, but gives little insight into many aspects of what the machine
was doing, or what it was capable of. Does anyone know of museum exhibits
that successfully convey something about programming, or it is just too
abstract an activity?
Cheers,
Mark
</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
w: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://schmud.de">http://schmud.de</a>
t: @dschmudde
p: 312.451.5952
e: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:d@schmud.de">d@schmud.de</a></pre>
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