The Analytical Engine was base 10, wasn't it? That definitely doesn't take away from the interest of the question of what Babbage knew about the possibilities of binary arithmetic, of course!

On Sun, Mar 20, 2022 at 6:07 PM Ceruzzi, Paul <CeruzziP@si.edu> wrote:
I got a chance to see the play this weekend. (The run ends next week.) I really enjoyed it. I am not a theater critic, so I will leave it at that. It has some artistic license, of course, but none of the howlers that ruined "The Imitation Game," thank goodness.  I hope it can be staged elsewhere.

One question I have for the SIG: Babbage obviously knew of Leibniz's work, but was he familiar with Leibniz's writing on what we now call binary arithmetic? If so, what did  Babbage think of it? I mention this because binary comes up in the play in several interesting scenes.

Paul Ceruzzi

From: Members <members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org> on behalf of Ceruzzi, Paul <CeruzziP@si.edu>
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2022 9:50 AM
To: members@SIGCIS.org <members@sigcis.org>
Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Play about Ada and Babbage
 

External Email - Exercise Caution

This message is a little late, and it may appeal only to those of you in the DC area, although I believe the play will be staged in other cities. I haven't seen it yet but plan to next week.  A play about Ada Augusta and Charles Babbage:

Paul Ceruzzi
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