Play about Ada and Babbage
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: https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/ [https://avantbard.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ada2.jpg]<https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/> Ada and The Engine - Avant Bard Theatre<https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/>
From prolific playwright Lauren Gunderson, Ada and the Engine is a whimsical scientific history sure to delight audiences. avantbard.org Paul Ceruzzi
I never dived deeply into Babbage/Lovelace before teaching this semester. In preparing for the first classing meeting, back in January, I read a lot of primary sources about the protagonists. I learned that Babbage wrote a couple of dozen programs between 1836-1840. That includes the one on Bernoulli, which Lovelace put into her appendices while translating Menabrea’s work in 1843. There is little doubt that Lovelace saw farther than Babbage in documenting that a computer could do more than just mathematics, but it makes me want to scream when I read things like the play’s homepage which states: “The programming: that was all Ada” – that is false. From: Members <members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org> on behalf of "Ceruzzi, Paul" <CeruzziP@si.edu> Date: Monday, March 14, 2022 at 9:50 AM To: "members@SIGCIS.org" <members@sigcis.org> Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Play about Ada and Babbage 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: https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/ [Image removed by sender.]<https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/> Ada and The Engine - Avant Bard Theatre<https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/>
From prolific playwright Lauren Gunderson, Ada and the Engine is a whimsical scientific history sure to delight audiences. avantbard.org Paul Ceruzzi
Related - an essential resource for this subject is Tom MIsa’s chapter, “Charles Babbage, Ada Lovelace, and the Bernoulli Numbers,” which is Chapter 2 in Ada’s Legacy: Cultures of Computing from the Victorian to the Digital Age <https://dl.acm.org/doi/book/10.1145/2809523> (ACM Books, 2015). If you are an ACM member, or if your library has an institutional subscription to ACM Books via the ACM Digital Library, you should be able to access Tom’s excellent chapter here: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2809523.2809527. Andy
On Mar 14, 2022, at 10:09 AM, Evan Koblentz <evank@njit.edu> wrote:
I never dived deeply into Babbage/Lovelace before teaching this semester. In preparing for the first classing meeting, back in January, I read a lot of primary sources about the protagonists.
I learned that Babbage wrote a couple of dozen programs between 1836-1840. That includes the one on Bernoulli, which Lovelace put into her appendices while translating Menabrea’s work in 1843.
There is little doubt that Lovelace saw farther than Babbage in documenting that a computer could do more than just mathematics, but it makes me want to scream when I read things like the play’s homepage which states: “The programming: that was all Ada” – that is false.
From: Members <members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org <mailto:members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org>> on behalf of "Ceruzzi, Paul" <CeruzziP@si.edu <mailto:CeruzziP@si.edu>> Date: Monday, March 14, 2022 at 9:50 AM To: "members@SIGCIS.org <mailto:members@SIGCIS.org>" <members@sigcis.org <mailto:members@sigcis.org>> Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Play about Ada and Babbage
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:
https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/ <https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/> <https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/> Ada and The Engine - Avant Bard Theatre <https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/> From prolific playwright Lauren Gunderson, Ada and the Engine is a whimsical scientific history sure to delight audiences. avantbard.org <http://avantbard.org/> Paul Ceruzzi _______________________________________________ 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/ <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 <http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org>
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: https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Favantbard.org%2Fproject%2Fada-and-the-engine%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cceruzzip%40si.edu%7C6cc2df1f36804975f52508da05c1aa58%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637828627194203039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=wM8aOK%2BM%2FlBnHnLbECzcuunkob1eH0rgbUVeRbGR914%3D&reserved=0> [https://avantbard.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ada2.jpg]<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Favantbard.org%2Fproject%2Fada-and-the-engine%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cceruzzip%40si.edu%7C6cc2df1f36804975f52508da05c1aa58%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637828627194203039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=wM8aOK%2BM%2FlBnHnLbECzcuunkob1eH0rgbUVeRbGR914%3D&reserved=0> Ada and The Engine - Avant Bard Theatre<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Favantbard.org%2Fproject%2Fada-and-the-engine%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cceruzzip%40si.edu%7C6cc2df1f36804975f52508da05c1aa58%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637828627194203039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=wM8aOK%2BM%2FlBnHnLbECzcuunkob1eH0rgbUVeRbGR914%3D&reserved=0>
From prolific playwright Lauren Gunderson, Ada and the Engine is a whimsical scientific history sure to delight audiences. avantbard.org Paul Ceruzzi
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:
https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/ <https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Favantbard.org%2Fproject%2Fada-and-the-engine%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cceruzzip%40si.edu%7C6cc2df1f36804975f52508da05c1aa58%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637828627194203039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=wM8aOK%2BM%2FlBnHnLbECzcuunkob1eH0rgbUVeRbGR914%3D&reserved=0>
<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Favantbard.org%2Fproject%2Fada-and-the-engine%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cceruzzip%40si.edu%7C6cc2df1f36804975f52508da05c1aa58%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637828627194203039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=wM8aOK%2BM%2FlBnHnLbECzcuunkob1eH0rgbUVeRbGR914%3D&reserved=0> Ada and The Engine - Avant Bard Theatre <https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Favantbard.org%2Fproject%2Fada-and-the-engine%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cceruzzip%40si.edu%7C6cc2df1f36804975f52508da05c1aa58%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637828627194203039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=wM8aOK%2BM%2FlBnHnLbECzcuunkob1eH0rgbUVeRbGR914%3D&reserved=0> From prolific playwright Lauren Gunderson, Ada and the Engine is a whimsical scientific history sure to delight audiences. avantbard.org Paul Ceruzzi _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at 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
Paul,
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 can't answer that, but I did look at writings by Turing (1945-6), Booth & Booth (1953) and Bowden (1953). They all made it clear that using binary was the obvious practical choice for electronic computation, and didn't really deem it worthy of discussion. Von Neumann (1945) gave a very florid explanation of the same practical choice. None of them bothered to mention Leibniz. Clearly it was *not* a practical choice for Babbage, because... cog wheels. I don't know what the optimum engineering choice is for a cog wheel based device, but it clearly isn't base 2. Regards Brian Carpenter On 21-Mar-22 11:07, Ceruzzi, Paul 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:
https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/ <https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Favantbard.org%2Fproject%2Fada-and-the-engine%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cceruzzip%40si.edu%7C6cc2df1f36804975f52508da05c1aa58%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637828627194203039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=wM8aOK%2BM%2FlBnHnLbECzcuunkob1eH0rgbUVeRbGR914%3D&reserved=0> <https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Favantbard.org%2Fproject%2Fada-and-the-engine%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cceruzzip%40si.edu%7C6cc2df1f36804975f52508da05c1aa58%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637828627194203039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=wM8aOK%2BM%2FlBnHnLbECzcuunkob1eH0rgbUVeRbGR914%3D&reserved=0>
From prolific playwright Lauren Gunderson, Ada and the Engine is a whimsical scientific history sure to delight audiences. avantbard.org
Paul Ceruzzi
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at 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
Dear Paul: Please note that Leibniz did not invent the binary system: The Binary System Was Created Long Before Leibniz | blog@CACM | Communications of the ACM October 10, 2017 Best wishes, Herbert ----Ursprüngliche Nachricht---- Von : brian.e.carpenter@gmail.com Datum : 21/03/2022 - 02:21 (MN) An : CeruzziP@si.edu, members@sigcis.org Betreff : Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Play about Ada and Babbage Paul,
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 can't answer that, but I did look at writings by Turing (1945-6), Booth & Booth (1953) and Bowden (1953). They all made it clear that using binary was the obvious practical choice for electronic computation, and didn't really deem it worthy of discussion. Von Neumann (1945) gave a very florid explanation of the same practical choice. None of them bothered to mention Leibniz. Clearly it was *not* a practical choice for Babbage, because... cog wheels. I don't know what the optimum engineering choice is for a cog wheel based device, but it clearly isn't base 2. Regards Brian Carpenter On 21-Mar-22 11:07, Ceruzzi, Paul 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:
https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/ <https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Favantbard.org%2Fproject%2Fada-and-the-engine%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cceruzzip%40si.edu%7C6cc2df1f36804975f52508da05c1aa58%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637828627194203039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=wM8aOK%2BM%2FlBnHnLbECzcuunkob1eH0rgbUVeRbGR914%3D&reserved=0> <https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Favantbard.org%2Fproject%2Fada-and-the-engine%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cceruzzip%40si.edu%7C6cc2df1f36804975f52508da05c1aa58%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637828627194203039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=wM8aOK%2BM%2FlBnHnLbECzcuunkob1eH0rgbUVeRbGR914%3D&reserved=0>
From prolific playwright Lauren Gunderson, Ada and the Engine is a whimsical scientific history sure to delight audiences. avantbard.org
Paul Ceruzzi
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at 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
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at 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
Perhaps a better link: https://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/221749-the-binary-system-was-created-lo... ----Ursprüngliche Nachricht---- Von : herbert.bruderer@bluewin.ch Datum : 21/03/2022 - 10:42 (MN) An : brian.e.carpenter@gmail.com Cc : members@sigcis.org Betreff : Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Play about Ada and Babbage Dear Paul: Please note that Leibniz did not invent the binary system: The Binary System Was Created Long Before Leibniz | blog@CACM | Communications of the ACM October 10, 2017 Best wishes, Herbert ----Ursprüngliche Nachricht---- Von : brian.e.carpenter@gmail.com Datum : 21/03/2022 - 02:21 (MN) An : CeruzziP@si.edu, members@sigcis.org Betreff : Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Play about Ada and Babbage Paul,
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 can't answer that, but I did look at writings by Turing (1945-6), Booth & Booth (1953) and Bowden (1953). They all made it clear that using binary was the obvious practical choice for electronic computation, and didn't really deem it worthy of discussion. Von Neumann (1945) gave a very florid explanation of the same practical choice. None of them bothered to mention Leibniz. Clearly it was *not* a practical choice for Babbage, because... cog wheels. I don't know what the optimum engineering choice is for a cog wheel based device, but it clearly isn't base 2. Regards Brian Carpenter On 21-Mar-22 11:07, Ceruzzi, Paul 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:
https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/ <https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Favantbard.org%2Fproject%2Fada-and-the-engine%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cceruzzip%40si.edu%7C6cc2df1f36804975f52508da05c1aa58%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637828627194203039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=wM8aOK%2BM%2FlBnHnLbECzcuunkob1eH0rgbUVeRbGR914%3D&reserved=0> <https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Favantbard.org%2Fproject%2Fada-and-the-engine%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cceruzzip%40si.edu%7C6cc2df1f36804975f52508da05c1aa58%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637828627194203039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=wM8aOK%2BM%2FlBnHnLbECzcuunkob1eH0rgbUVeRbGR914%3D&reserved=0>
From prolific playwright Lauren Gunderson, Ada and the Engine is a whimsical scientific history sure to delight audiences. avantbard.org
Paul Ceruzzi
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at 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
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at 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 _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at 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
Another antecedent to Leibniz's codification of binary mathematics can be found in the work of the English polymath John Wilkins (1614-1672). Both in his book on cryptography, Mercury (1641); and in his magnum opus, the Essay towards a real character, and a philosophical language (1668). Leibniz knew Wilkins's work as a major inspiration for his own theoretical project for an "algebra of thought," the characteristica universalis. I touch on these connections in my book The Mirror of Information in Early Modern England (Palgrave, 2017). Best wishes, JDF James Dougal Fleming<https://libberleeber.com><http://www.sfu.ca/english/faculty-staff/profiles/j-d--fleming.Jameshtml> Professor, Department of English Simon Fraser University Burnaby/Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. So spake the fervent Angel, but his zeal None seconded, as out of season judged, Or singular and rash -- Paradise Lost ________________________________ From: Members <members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org> on behalf of herbert.bruderer@bluewin.ch <herbert.bruderer@bluewin.ch> Sent: March 21, 2022 2:54 AM To: CeruzziP@si.edu; members@sigcis.org Cc: members@sigcis.org Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Play about Ada and Babbage Perhaps a better link: https://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/221749-the-binary-system-was-created-lo... ----Ursprüngliche Nachricht---- Von : herbert.bruderer@bluewin.ch Datum : 21/03/2022 - 10:42 (MN) An : brian.e.carpenter@gmail.com Cc : members@sigcis.org Betreff : Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Play about Ada and Babbage Dear Paul: Please note that Leibniz did not invent the binary system: The Binary System Was Created Long Before Leibniz | blog@CACM | Communications of the ACM October 10, 2017 Best wishes, Herbert ----Ursprüngliche Nachricht---- Von : brian.e.carpenter@gmail.com Datum : 21/03/2022 - 02:21 (MN) An : CeruzziP@si.edu, members@sigcis.org Betreff : Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Play about Ada and Babbage Paul,
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 can't answer that, but I did look at writings by Turing (1945-6), Booth & Booth (1953) and Bowden (1953). They all made it clear that using binary was the obvious practical choice for electronic computation, and didn't really deem it worthy of discussion. Von Neumann (1945) gave a very florid explanation of the same practical choice. None of them bothered to mention Leibniz. Clearly it was *not* a practical choice for Babbage, because... cog wheels. I don't know what the optimum engineering choice is for a cog wheel based device, but it clearly isn't base 2. Regards Brian Carpenter On 21-Mar-22 11:07, Ceruzzi, Paul 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:
https://avantbard.org/project/ada-and-the-engine/ <https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Favantbard.org%2Fproject%2Fada-and-the-engine%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cceruzzip%40si.edu%7C6cc2df1f36804975f52508da05c1aa58%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637828627194203039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=wM8aOK%2BM%2FlBnHnLbECzcuunkob1eH0rgbUVeRbGR914%3D&reserved=0> <https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Favantbard.org%2Fproject%2Fada-and-the-engine%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cceruzzip%40si.edu%7C6cc2df1f36804975f52508da05c1aa58%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637828627194203039%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C2000&sdata=wM8aOK%2BM%2FlBnHnLbECzcuunkob1eH0rgbUVeRbGR914%3D&reserved=0>
From prolific playwright Lauren Gunderson, Ada and the Engine is a whimsical scientific history sure to delight audiences. avantbard.org
Paul Ceruzzi
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at 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
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at 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 _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at 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 _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at 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
participants (7)
-
Andrew Russell -
Brian E Carpenter -
Ceruzzi, Paul -
Evan Koblentz -
herbert.bruderer＠bluewin.ch -
James Fleming -
Jean Graham