Anecdotes

Reflections on the Difference EngineAndrew BoothDoron Swade's description of the reconstruction of Babbage's Difference Engine at the Science Museum in London prompted some questions: Why didn't Babbage use binary arithmetic? Why didn't Babbage use the electromagnetic relay, which Morse had already invented? These lead to a description of the ARC relay machine at the University of London and to a brief account of its simultaneous carry that gave Babbage such problems. The Founders of the ACM Eric A. Weiss This article provides brief sketches of the eight men who founded the ACM in 1947, along with their backgrounds and later careers. The article also includes the 1972 Silver Anniversary speech by the singular founder, Edmund. C. Berkeley, and discusses its immediate consequences.