May 2009 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

Vacuum Tube Development Committee
by Evan Koblentz 09 Sep '10

09 Sep '10

Last week I visited Harvard's archives of the Radio Research Lab, and found some meeting minutes of the Vacuum Tube Development Committee (1943-1945 timeframe) .... I can't find much online that nicely summarizes this committee and its activity / purpose. Can someone here point me to a good overview?

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Another question - "Giant Brains"
by Evan Koblentz 31 Oct '09

31 Oct '09

Was the term "Giant Brains" already popular when Edmund Berkeley used it in his 1949 book title, or should he get credit for popularizing it? I'm mentioning the term in a footnote and want to be sure credit goes to the right source.

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Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Von Neumann EDVAC report
by evan＠snarc.net 01 Jun '09

01 Jun '09

>>> One of the great unanswered questions is how many copies were made in 1945 How many do we already know of? 1. Smithsonian 2. L. of C. 3. NARA (Aberdeen records in Georgia) 4. presumably NARA / ENIAC records in Maryland 5. Mauchly archive @ Penn? I've been there a few times recently but don't recall if it includes the EDVAC report, as I was there for other documents

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Von Neumann EDVAC report
by Ceruzzi, Paul 29 May '09

29 May '09

There is a copy of the EDVAC Report in the rare book room of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. I collected it from the Bureau of Standards (now NIST), and it has Sam Alexander's name stamped on it. Most of the other materials from the NBS collection went to the Charles Babbage Institute, where they have been catalogued. I believe that would also include other von Neumann reports you would be interested in. I have to warn you that the report is fragile and has to be handled with extreme care. It was reproduced by a process similar to mimeograph, which used a flimsy type of paper that is easily torn. One of the great unanswered questions is how many copies were made in 1945, and of them, how many survive. Paul E. Ceruzzi National Air & Space Museum MRC 311; PO Box 37012 Washington, DC 20013-7012 202-633-2414 <http://www.nasm.si.edu/staffDetail.cfm?staffID=24>

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Question about von Neumann papers
by Mai Sugimoto 29 May '09

29 May '09

Dear Sigcis members, I have questions about "Urtext Edition" of these historical papers: 1) John von Neumann, "First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC" 2) Arthur W. Burks, Herman H.Goldstine, John von Neumann, "Preliminary Discussion of the Logical Design of an Electronic Computing Instrument" Recently my colleague and I are doing translation of these papers into Japanese for publication. In order to make the translation as correct as possible, we are looking for the version that is the closest to the original one. About 1), we are using this version so far: http://www.virtualtravelog.net/entries/2003-08-TheFirstDraft.pdf It seems that this version is a finely edited one. Does anyone have the original typescript of this paper? Or does anyone know where the typescript is? About 2), we are using 'A.H.Taub, ed: John von Neumann Collected Works' and also referring this version stored at U. of Michigan: http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/3972 Does anyone have some information on other version of this paper? I would really appreciate any kind of information about them. Thank you. Mai ----- Mai Sugimoto Ph.D Student, Program of Philosophy and History of Science, Kyoto University, Japan nix.pura(a)gmail.com

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About: Mai Sugimoto
by Mai Sugimoto 28 May '09

28 May '09

Dear Sigcis members, I joined the list several months ago but I did not introduce myself yet, so I would like to do it now: I am Mai Sugimoto, a Ph.D student of Kyoto University in Japan. I have been studying about Claude Shannon, and recently I began to do research about Calvin Mooers. I would like to reassess the achievement of Shannon. Also I am interested in what electorical engineering people thought about "information" during 1940s and 1950s. Now I am doing my dissertation research at Charles Babbage Institute till the end of this August. Best, Mai Sugimoto ----- Mai Sugimoto Ph.D Student, Program of Philosophy and History of Science, Kyoto University, Japan nix.pura(a)gmail.com

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URL for workshop submission and details
by Thomas Haigh 27 May '09

27 May '09

Further to the last message, If you are now fired up to submit for the workshop, but can't find last week's message never fear. Details and URLs for online submission are at www.sigcis.org/?q=workshop09 Brent leveraged our fancy Drupal content management system to make a very nice online interface for the meeting. The regular deadline is June 22. Tom

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SIGCIS Workshop - Grad student travel funding deadline approaches
by Thomas Haigh 27 May '09

27 May '09

Hello everyone, It was great to see the CFP for the very first SIGCIS workshop go out last week. We already have a lot of interest, and the team is working hard to make sure that it is memorable for the right reasons. Although the theme is "Mike Mahoney and the Histories of Computing(s)" this encompasses pretty much any history of computing topic - so don't feel put off if your work does not directly relate to Mahoney. This is the first SIGCIS workshop, but we hope it will become an annual event and eventually fill the need for a regular international academic meeting in the history of computing to supplement the various national and special topic workshops that come and go. As mentioned earlier, the deadline for SHOT and SIGCIS graduate student travel funding applications is approaching. (Reminder: details are at http://www.sigcis.org/?q=node/55. Apply to SHOT via http://www.historyoftechnology.org/awards/travelgrants.html but send an email to secretary(a)sigcis.org asking for consideration for our supplemental funds). To help graduate students interested in the workshop we are offering expedited review of proposals if they are received by the end of TOMORROW, Thursday May 28. You will hear back in time to meet the deadline for funding applications. We're particularly interested in submissions of work in progress and dissertations in progress. The dissertations in progress session is an idea copied from the Business History Conference, where I personally found it very useful. You would pre circulate an actual or draft dissertation proposal and then make a short presentation with lots of time for discussion back and forth on framing, sources, organization, possible issues, etc. This might be particularly valuable in history of computing since you probably have between one and zero experts in the field on the faculty in your graduate program. So benefiting from the early input of a group of specialists could greatly strengthen the dissertation and draw your attention to ideas, resources and previous work you might otherwise miss. The works in progress session would also be very suitable for graduate students, as you can get helpful and immediate feedback on a chapter or draft article. We can only run these sessions if we get enough submissions to fill them, and I'm keen to see the workshop take advantage of its more intimate and friendly scale so do things that would be impossible in the larger context of the main conference. So please do consider contributing to them. Tom Haigh www.tomandmaria.com/tom

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IT history at BSHS 2009
by James Sumner 27 May '09

27 May '09

Dear listmembers The annual conference of the British Society for the History of Science is in Leicester at the beginning of July. Not so much computing or IT as in 2008 (and I have my eighteenth-century hat on this time), but you may wish to note Session 11 on technologies and users, featuring Tom Lean and Ian Martin, and Sandra Mols in Session 8. More generally, the twentieth century is particularly well represented this year. Anyone interested should note that the deadline for reduced-rate registration is very close (Saturday 30 June). --- The 2009 BSHS Annual Conference will take place at Stamford Hall, University of Leicester, from Thursday 2 - Saturday 5 July 2009. The conference programme includes parallel themed sessions, plenary lectures, education and outreach activities, and a conference dinner at the National Space Centre. Full details, including provisional programme and online registration form, are available at <http://www.bshs.org.uk/conferences/annual-conference/2009-leicester>. --- Best James

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About: Carolyn Kane
by Carolyn Kane 26 May '09

26 May '09

Dear Sigcis, I have just joined the list and I would like to introduce myself: Carolyn Lee Kane is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University where she is currently writing her dissertation on “Synthetic Color: Electronic Signal Processing & The Reconfiguration of Perception at the End of the Twentieth Century.” This project investigates the role of electronic, computer generated color in electronic art made from the post-war period through the present. Her research fields include philosophy, aesthetics, and new media history and theory. For more information: https://files.nyu.edu/clk267/public/ Best, Carolyn -- Carolyn Lee Kane PhD Candidate Media, Culture, and Communication 239 Greene St. 7th Floor New York University clk267(a)nyu.edu https://files.nyu.edu/clk267/public/

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