May 2019 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Konrad Zuse's 1936 patent - German text?
by Brian Randell 24 Sep '20

24 Sep '20

Hi Mark: I have a copy of the original 1936 Zuse patent application that I had translated into English for my Origins book. (It took some finding - some of my Zemanek documents had strayed into the middle of the Zuse documents, and so had obscured them! :-) It is a type-written document, on the letterhead of Zuse’s patent attorney Dr.-Ing. Bruno Wolf, Berlin Charlottenberg 5, Kantstrasse 85, dated 9.4.36 (i.e. 9 April 1936). It is some twenty or so pages in length. However I should warn you that some of the pages are barely legible (though could probably be deciphered by someone who knows German - which I don’t). I could scan this document for you if you wish. (I have about two inches thick of documents about Zuse’s work, including a number of patents and patent applications, some pre-war, immediately some post-war, together with several typescripts from him. My plan is that this material will be added to the archive of my files held in the Special Collections section of Newcastle University Library. This already holds all the extensive correspondence that I was involved in while compiling Origins.) Cheers Brian On 24 Jan 2017, at 10:58, Mark Priestley <m.priestley(a)gmail.com<mailto:m.priestley@gmail.com>> wrote: Dear list, Zuse's 1936 patent "Method for Automatic Execution of Calculations with the Aid of Computers" is reprinted in Brian Randell's "Origins of Digital Computers" collections. Does anyone know if/where I can get hold of the German original? Thanks in advance. Mark _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org -- School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK EMAIL = Brian.Randell(a)ncl.ac.uk<mailto:Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk> PHONE = +44 191 208 7923 FAX = +44 191 208 8232 URL = http://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/people/profile/brianrandell.html

6 5

NASA contributions to computer development
by Alex Roland 03 Aug '19

03 Aug '19

Friends: I have been a passive member of SIGCIS for many years now, even though I am no longer an active researcher in the field. Still, I follow your correspondence with great interest. I am writing now because I have received an inquiry from a reporter for the Wall Street Journal who is interested in NASA’s historical contributions to computer development. I know from research on my book Strategic Computing: DARPA and the Quest for Machine Intelligence, 1983-1993 (2002) that NASA was involved in the Federal High Performance Computing Program in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I do not, however, know of other significant contributions by NASA to computer development. If anyone knows of such contributions, I would be happy to know about them. Thanks, Alex Roland

7 7

Where is this ivory Roman hand abacus?
by herbert.bruderer＠bluewin.ch 10 Jun '19

10 Jun '19

Dear all Does anyone know where this very rare Roman hand abacus made of ivory is? https://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/235956-in-search-of-a-rare-roman-pocke… Many thanks for your help. Best, Herbert -- Bruderer Informatik Seehaldenstraße 26 Postfach 47 CH-9401 Rorschach Switzerland Telefon +41 71 855 77 11 Amazon https://tinyurl.com/y9upwagp

2 1

Fate of BINAC?
by Evan Koblentz 28 May '19

28 May '19

In 1954, the USAF transferred BINAC from Northrup to UCLA. Does anyone know what became of it after its arrival at UCLA? -- Evan Koblentz, executive director Vintage Computer Federation www.vcfed.org evan(a)vcfed.org (646) 546-9999 VCF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

1 0

Wired story on Margaret Hamilton and Ellen Gille at MIT
by Joly MacFie 27 May '19

27 May '19

https://www.wired.com/story/these-hidden-women-helped-invent-chaos-theory/ (reprinted from Quanta - extract..) ...chaos went mainstream with the publication of James Gleick’s Chaos: Making a New Sciencein 1987. Before long, Jeff Goldblum, playing the chaos theorist Ian Malcolm, was pausing, stammering and charming his way through lines about the unpredictability of nature in Jurassic Park. All told, it’s a neat narrative. Lorenz, “the father of chaos,” started a scientific revolution on the LGP-30. It is quite literally a textbook case for how the numerical experiments that modern science has come to rely on—in fields ranging from climate science to ecology to astrophysics—can uncover hidden truths about nature. But in fact, Lorenz was not the one running the machine. There’s another story, one that has gone untold for half a century. A year and a half ago, an MIT scientist happened across a name he had never heard before and started to investigate. The trail he ended up following took him into the MIT archives, through the stacks of the Library of Congress, and across three states and five decades to find information about the women who, today, would have been listed as co-authors on that seminal paper. And that material, shared with Quanta, provides a fuller, fairer account of the birth of chaos. -- --------------------------------------------------------------- Joly MacFie 218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast -------------------------------------------------------------- -

1 0

new book: Warren Sack, The Software Arts (MIT Press, 2019)
by Warren Sack 27 May '19

27 May '19

Dear Colleagues, I have recently published a new book in the Software Studies Series at MIT Press: Warren Sack, The Software Arts (MIT Press, 2019). The Software Arts is alternative history of software that places the arts at the very center of software's evolution. My book is an invitation to artists and humanists to see how their ideas are at the root of software and an invitation to computer scientists to envision themselves as artists and humanists. https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/software-arts I hope you will have the opportunity to have a look at the book. Best, Warren SACK Chair + Professor, Film + Digital Media, University of California, Santa Cruz Editorial Group Member, *Computational Culture: A Journal of Software Studies* Book: *The Software Arts* (MIT Press, 2019) https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/software-arts

5 4

History of Computing at Newcastle University
by Troy Astarte 21 May '19

21 May '19

Dear all, I am pleased to announce the event Newcastle Computing: Celebrating 50 Years of Campus-wide Computing taking place on the afternoon of Thursday 13th June 2019 in the Urban Sciences Building, Newcastle University. We are unveiling a new exhibition on Newcastle’s acquisition of a System/360-67 machine and the development of the Michigan Terminal System. We will also have a series of talks on the history of computing at Newcastle, especially as it relates to these events. For more information and to book, please visit: http://newcastlecomputing50.ncl.ac.uk . Attendance is free but registration is mandatory as we have space restrictions. Best, Troy Astarte School of Computing Newcastle University

1 0

Exploring the Early Digital
by Ceruzzi, Paul 20 May '19

20 May '19

I am pleased to announce the publication of "Exploring the Early Digital," edited by Tom Haigh. Springer is offering it at a very reasonable price. Have a look at the Forwards and Introduction: http://early.digital/ Best, Paul Ceruzzi

1 0

Interview with Joan Greenbaum
by Rebelsky, Samuel 16 May '19

16 May '19

Found on another mailing list, of possible interest to this list. --- START OF QUOTED MATERIAL --- For those who haven't seen this it's an interview with Joan Greenbaum about early days organizing in tech. https://logicmag.io/06-mainframe-interrupted/ ---- END OF QUOTED MATERIAL ----

1 0

Call for papers: For the future press “★”. Steering Innovation in Communication Infrastructures (1849-2019)
by Enrico Natale 16 May '19

16 May '19

Dear list members, The Swiss Association for History and Computing launches a call for papers for a congress that will take place on 5-6 february 2020 in Bern on the topic: For the future press “★”. Steering Innovation in Communication Infrastructures <https://infoclio.ch/en/cfp-%EF%BB%BFsteering-innovation-communication-infra…> The congress is organized in cooperation with the Museum of Communication and the PTT Archives, as an homage to the 170 years since the founding of the Swiss Post (est. 1849). Deadline for proposals: 30 June 2019. Selected authors will be invited in Bern and their paper published in the swiss Journal for History & Computing. Download the call full for paper as PDF <https://www.infoclio.ch/sites/default/files/eventdocs/G%26I%202020%20-%20Ca…> Best regards, Enrico Natale infoclio.ch <http://infoclio.ch/> Hirschengraben 11 Postfach 3001 Bern Tel: +41 31 311 75 72 Follow infoclio.ch <http://infoclio.ch/> on Twitter <https://twitter.com/infoclio> / Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/infoclio.ch>.

1 0