Dear Bernard,

 

you can find some information about the history of calculator exhibitions in Germany (as well as 1893 at the World exhibition in Chicago in the US) in my book “Walther von Dyck (1856-1934). Mathematik, Technik und Wissenschaftsorganisation an der TH München. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag 2003”. Further material about calculating machines at the world exhibition in Paris in 1900 can be found in my article "Die Rechenmaschine Gauss - eine gescheiterte Innovation?", published in Hashagen, Ulf, Oskar Blumtritt, Helmuth Trischler (Eds.): "Circa 1903", Artefakte in der Gründungszeit des Deutschen Museums, Munich 2003, S. 371-398. Furthermore I have almost finished an article about the history of computer exhibitions in museums in Europe and the US in the 20th century, which will probably be published this year in the journal “Informatik-Spektrum”.

 

Best wishes, Ulf

 

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Ulf Hashagen

Deutsches Museum

Forschungsinstitut für Technik- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte

Museumsinsel 1

80538 München

Germany

 

Tel.:  +49 (0)89-2179-453

Fax.: +49 (0)89-2179-239

 

Email: u.hashagen@deutsches-museum.de 

 

 

 

 

Von: members-bounces@sigcis.org [mailto:members-bounces@sigcis.org] Im Auftrag von Bernard Geoghegan
Gesendet: Mittwoch, 19. März 2008 01:54
An: members@sigcis.org
Betreff: [SIGCIS-Members] 17th-19th c. exhibitions of computers

 

Hi SIGCIS members,

I'm doing some research on the 20th century exhibition of computers, particularly in the form of automata and televised calculating machines. I'd like to look for some historical precedents, though. Does anyone know of any works discussing the exhibition of calculating machines from the 17th through the 19th century? For example, in the 19th century calculating machines were sent to at least one World's Fair, and in in the 18th c. von Kempelen's chess playing Turk inspired popular speculations and exciting about thinking machines, etc.

Thanks for your help.

Bernard

 

Bernard Geoghegan

Doctoral Candidate, Program in Screen Cultures, Northwestern University

Institute Visitor, Program in Science, Technology and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology