I just posted to the Digital Humanities Knowledge Group blog a list of some of the digital humanities and digital history titles that I ordered for the Bracken Library holdings with my share of the Department of History annual allocation this year. Check them out and enjoy!
Category Archives: History of Computing
The Greatest Machine That Never Was
The computer was invented in the 30s: not the 1930s, but the 1830s. British mathematician Charles Babbage designed and prototyped a fully functional mechanical computer he called the Analytical Engine, but it was never completed. Now a team in Britain plans to build the machine for display at London’s Science Museum before the 2030s come around.
Lecturing on “A Brief History of Computing” today and have to tell the sad story of this mistreated man. Read on and celebrate his genius!
Building Babbage’s Analytical Engine
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Computer Experts Building 1830s Babbage Analytical Engine: http://nyti.ms/u1bfan
A fascinating project to construct the Analytical Engine, a “room-size mechanical behemoth” that Charles Babbage (1791-1871) envisioned, and partly designed, but never built. See the Interactive Feature “Before-Its-Time Machine”. The project team, led by John Graham-Cumming, a programmer, and Doron Swade, a former curator at the Science Museum in London, have digitized Babbage’s surviving blueprints but are relying on crowd-sourcing to determine exactly what should be built. Plans will be posted online next year, and the public will be invited to offer suggestions. Sounds like fun!
