February 2014 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

Coleman Prize
by Bernardo Batiz-Lazo 07 Feb '14

07 Feb '14

Please circulate best wishes Bernardo Bangor University (Wales) Begin forwarded message: > > > *** Apologies for multiple postings *** > > Anyone completed their PhD in a Business History topic in the past two years? Or knows someone who has? Then you/they can apply for the Coleman Prize! Worth £250. > > It is open to PhD dissertations in Business History either having a British > subject or completed at a British University. All dissertations completed in the previous two calendar years to that of their submission are eligible. It is a condition of eligibility for the Prize that shortlisted finalists will present their findings at the Association's annual conference, which will be held on 27-28th June 2014 at Newcastle University Business School. This will, of course, be fun! > > Please send a pdf document, including the title of your PhD dissertation and a brief 300 word abstract to Christine.Leslie(a)Glasgow.ac.uk by 21 February 2014. > > The value of the prize is £250 + expenses, sponsored by the publishers of Business History, Taylor & Francis Group. > > See details > > http://www.abh-net.org/docs/conf/Call%20for%20Papers%20Coleman%20Prize%2020… > > > > > ----- > -----

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UK postdoc: Java programmer wanted for Analytical Engine simulation!
by James Sumner 03 Feb '14

03 Feb '14

Forwarding on behalf of a colleague (see contact details below): not a history job in the usual sense, but looks fascinating! Best James http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AIA801/postdoctoral-research-assistant/ Postdoctoral Research Assistant Leverhulme Project Grant 'Notions and Notations' Royal Holloway, University of London -Computer Science 36 months duration full time Starting salary is £32,862 per annum inclusive of London Allowance Applicants are invited for a position as fixed term Research Assistant in the Computer Science department at Royal Holloway, University of London. The post will support the Leverhulme Trust project Notions and Notations, Babbage's Language of Thought, grant reference RPG-2013-396. The team is led by Professor Adrian Johnstone and Professor Elizabeth Scott, and includes Dr Doron Swade who oversaw the construction of Babbage's Difference Engine 2 for the Science Museum. Babbage scholarship is an expanding field, yet one fundamental question has been largely ignored: how is it that one individual working alone could have synthesised a workable computer design over a short period, designing an object whose complexity of behaviour so far exceeded that of contemporary machines that it would not be matched for over one hundred years? We believe that the answer lies in the techniques Babbage developed to reason about complex systems. His Notation, or rather his notations showing the geometry, the timing, the causal chains and the abstract components of his machines, have a direct parallel in the Hardware Description Languages (HDLs) developed since 1970 to aid the design of large scale electronics. Our research project will attempt to establish whether Babbage created the forerunner to HDLs, achieving intellectual leverage by abstracting away from machine schematics to hardware notations that directly described function, rather than implementation. The key research questions to be addressed are (a) whether Babbage's notations capture the full specification of his engines and (b) the degree to which the notation is a successful HDL that underpins and enables the intellectual development of Babbage's mechanisms, both at the micro level of individual functional units and at the systems level. We propose to test this by developing a specification language and accompanying simulator which capture Babbage's notation, and using them to exercise Babbage's notations for Difference Engine 2. The successful candidate will have a PhD in relevant area, have good programming skills in Java, be familiar with current software engineering practices, be able to implement Web based applications, be familiar (to undergraduate level) with the construction of programming language parsers and translators, and have a good working knowledge of computer architecture. Detailed knowledge of Babbage and his designs is not required since that will be acquired within the project, but candidates must have an interest in the origins of computing. This is a full time post available from 1 April, 2014 for a fixed term period of 36 months. This post is based in Egham, Surrey, London where the College is situated in a beautiful, leafy campus near to Windsor Great Park and within commuting distance from London. For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Prof Adrian Johnstone, a.johnstone(a)rhul.ac.uk or +44 (0)1784 443425.

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Fwd: TNMOC wins BETT education award
by B. Randell 03 Feb '14

03 Feb '14

Hi: Begin forwarded message: > From: Stephen Fleming <stephen.fleming(a)palam.co.uk> > Subject: TNMOC wins BETT education award > Date: 3 February 2014 13:08:31 GMT > To: <brian.randell(a)ncl.ac.uk> > Reply-To: <stephen.fleming(a)palam.co.uk> > > NEWS RELEASE > > TNMOC wins BETT Award for "child-centred" History of Computing curriculum resource > > 3 February 2014 > > An online video resource for schools about the history of computing has won a prestigious BETT (British Educational Technology and Training) award. The unprecedented resource, created by the London Grid for Learning (LGfL) in partnership with The National Museum of Computing and E2bN, is now available online to approximately 25,000 UK schools connected to the National Education Network. Already it is one of the most popular resources within the LGfL resource portfolio. > > The online resource is particularly relevant to schools as the ICT curriculum moves towards a focus on computing. It is thought to be first BETT Award-winning resource to have focussed on computing history. > > > Full news release with photos here: here http://www.tnmoc.org/news/tnmoc-news/tnmoc-wins-bett-education-award > The full video resource is available only to UK schools, but trailer and summary videos can be found via: https://showcase.lgfl.net/Summary_page/Content/hoc.aspx Cheers Brian Randell School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU EMAIL = Brian.Randell(a)ncl.ac.uk PHONE = +44 191 222 7923 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/brian.randell

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History of Computing book nearly wins prize ...
by Mark Priestley 03 Feb '14

03 Feb '14

Hello list, Apologies for blowing my own trumpet, but members of the list might be interested to know that my book *A Science of Operations* was awarded a Special Commendation in the 2013 Fernando Gil International Prize in Philosophy of Science. For futher details: http://fernando-gil.org.pt/en/nominees/2013/commendation/ Mark -- Mark Priestley www.markpriestley.net

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