<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="auto">Fantastic! I'm looking forward to showing my students. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div id="composer_signature" dir="auto"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">----<div dir="auto">Evan Koblentz<br dir="auto"> <br dir="auto">- Senior Writer, Office of Communications and Marketing</div><div dir="auto">- Adjunct Instructor, Ying Wu College of Computing</div><div dir="auto">- Faculty/Staff Advisor, NJIT Lego Club<br dir="auto"> <br dir="auto"><a href="mailto:evank@njit.edu" original_font_attr="-1" original_line_height_attr="" dir="auto">evank@njit.edu</a><br dir="auto"><a href="tel:(973) 596-3065" original_font_attr="-1" original_line_height_attr="" dir="auto">(973) 596-3065</a></div><div dir="auto">https://web.njit.edu/~evank</div></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div><br></div><div align="left" dir="auto" style="font-size:100%;color:#000000"><div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Doron Swade via Members <members@lists.sigcis.org> </div><div>Date: 12/2/23 10:00 AM (GMT-05:00) </div><div>To: members@SIGCIS.org </div><div>Cc: Doron Swade <d.swade@blueyonder.co.uk> </div><div>Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Babbage Engine - Full Technical Description on Open Access </div><div><br></div></div><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt">Dear All</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt">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).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt">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. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt">Over the decades-long life of the project I documented the interpretation of the 19<sup>th</sup>-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.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt">A full description of the Engine is presented in two works available online:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-09/DE2_Technical_Description.pdf__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!I3DsYFszNHP7kK8x697Ui1kEMZvvgPNMYwHNGstmYcbUTlqjc9OwvN0KOCP0oWRM7FGsM0wa_hrbt5qgLrc$"><i><span style="color:blue">Difference Engine No.2 Technical Description</span></i></a></span><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt"> </span></b><span style="font-size:13.0pt">(232 pages, 131 illustrations)</span></p><p style="margin-left:1.0cm" class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="font-size:13.0pt">Provides a detailed interpretation of Babbage’s design, and documents the technical understanding that informed the successful construction of the working machine.</span></p><p style="margin-left:1.0cm" class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-08/User_Manual_PDF_Vsn_1.1_Final_SEC1.pdf__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!I3DsYFszNHP7kK8x697Ui1kEMZvvgPNMYwHNGstmYcbUTlqjc9OwvN0KOCP0oWRM7FGsM0wa_hrb-aUXG-Q$"><i><span style="color:blue">Difference Engine No.2 User Manual</span></i></a> </span><span style="font-size:13.0pt">(147 pages, 199 illustrations)</span></p><p style="margin-left:1.0cm;text-indent:-1.0cm" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"> Documents the practical procedures for operating the Engine safely, setting up a calculation, testing, trouble-shooting, fault-finding, and maintenance including lubrication.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt">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 19<sup>th</sup>-century design drawings. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt">Direct Browser Links: </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Technical Description:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-09/DE2_Technical_Description.pdf__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!I3DsYFszNHP7kK8x697Ui1kEMZvvgPNMYwHNGstmYcbUTlqjc9OwvN0KOCP0oWRM7FGsM0wa_hrbt5qgLrc$">https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-09/DE2_Technical_Description.pdf</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB" lang="FR">User Manual:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-08/User_Manual_PDF_Vsn_1.1_Final_SEC1.pdf__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!I3DsYFszNHP7kK8x697Ui1kEMZvvgPNMYwHNGstmYcbUTlqjc9OwvN0KOCP0oWRM7FGsM0wa_hrb-aUXG-Q$"><span lang="FR">https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2023-08/User_Manual_PDF_Vsn_1.1_Final_SEC1.pdf</span></a></span><span style="font-size:13.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB" lang="FR"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt" lang="FR"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Additional Material</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;color:#2F5597"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/aa110000003/the-babbage-papers__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!I3DsYFszNHP7kK8x697Ui1kEMZvvgPNMYwHNGstmYcbUTlqjc9OwvN0KOCP0oWRM7FGsM0wa_hrbd01t4eo$"><span style="color:#2F5597">The Babbage Papers at the Science Museum:</span></a></span></p><ul type="disc" style="margin-top:0cm"><li style="margin-left:0cm;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1" class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="font-size:13.0pt">Digitised archive of Babbage papers including full technical archive and Notebooks. </span></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/aa110000003/the-babbage-papers__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!I3DsYFszNHP7kK8x697Ui1kEMZvvgPNMYwHNGstmYcbUTlqjc9OwvN0KOCP0oWRM7FGsM0wa_hrbd01t4eo$">https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/aa110000003/the-babbage-papers</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="font-size:13.0pt;color:#2F5597"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/charles-babbages-difference-engines-and-science-museum__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!I3DsYFszNHP7kK8x697Ui1kEMZvvgPNMYwHNGstmYcbUTlqjc9OwvN0KOCP0oWRM7FGsM0wa_hrbFA00pxI$"><span style="color:#2F5597">Charles Babbage’s Difference Engines and the Science Museum | Science Museum</span></a></span></u></p><ul type="disc" style="margin-top:0cm"><li style="margin-left:0cm;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1" class="MsoListParagraph"><u><span style="font-size:13.0pt">Short contextual and historical summary. </span></u></li><li style="margin-left:0cm;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1" class="MsoListParagraph"><u><span style="font-size:13.0pt">Links to the <i>Technical Description</i> and <i>User Manual </i>are in Further Reading.</span></u></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="font-size:13.0pt"><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/charles-babbages-difference-engines-and-science-museum__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!I3DsYFszNHP7kK8x697Ui1kEMZvvgPNMYwHNGstmYcbUTlqjc9OwvN0KOCP0oWRM7FGsM0wa_hrbFA00pxI$">https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/charles-babbages-difference-engines-and-science-museum</a></span></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Citation</span><span style="font-size:13.0pt;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">: </span></p><p style="margin-left:14.2pt;text-indent:-14.2pt" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Swade, Doron, </span><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2: Technical Description</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt">. Science Museum, 2023.</span></p><p style="margin-left:14.2pt;text-indent:-14.2pt;text-autospace:none" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Swade Doron, <i>Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2: User Manual</i>. Science Museum, 2023.</span></p><p style="margin-left:14.2pt;text-indent:-14.2pt;text-autospace:none" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> </span></p><p style="margin-left:14.2pt;text-indent:-14.2pt;text-autospace:none" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt">Best wishes</span></p><p style="margin-left:14.2pt;text-indent:-14.2pt;text-autospace:none" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt">Doron Swade</span><span style="font-size:13.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"> </span></p></div></body></html>