Communications of the ACM
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From BLOG@CACM
Rare Circular Slide Rules
Slide rules: the longer the scale, the greater the accuracy of the instrument.
From BLOG@CACM
The Colossus
Unseen images of the code-breaking computer that helped win World War 2.
From BLOG@CACM
400 Years of Mechanical Calculating Machines
Germany is celebrating the 400th birthday of Schickard's "calculating clock."
From BLOG@CACM
Where is the Cradle of the Computer?
The digital computer of today arose in the first half of the 1940s independently in three different countries: Germany, the U.K. and the U.S.
From BLOG@CACM
The Mesm: Ukraine Beats Russia
The Mesm is considered the first stored program digital computer in Continental Europe.
From BLOG@CACM
Leonardo Torres Quevedo, a Brilliant but Forgotten Spanish Inventor
Although far ahead of his time, in the German- and English-speaking countries, Torres Quevedo has been largely forgotten.
From BLOG@CACM
How Does One Divide with Napier's Rods?
Napier's multiplication and division rods, deriving from the basic multiplication table, simplify calculations considerably.
From BLOG@CACM
How Does One Calculate With A Circular Slide Rule?
The circular slide rule was widely used until the 1970s.
From BLOG@CACM
The World's Most Magnificent Historical Calculating Machines
The design of today's electronic computers is usually not very appealing, in contrast to magnificent mechanical calculating machines from earlier times.
From BLOG@CACM
The World's Most Magnificent Historical Automatons
Automatons are ubiquitous. Some of the most magnificent works in the genre have survived in museums.
From BLOG@CACM
An Enigmatic Device from Denmark
Discovery of a very rare surveying instrument in Denmark.
From BLOG@CACM
Tracking Down a Seminal Work on Computer Construction – in Russian
A Russian edition of Rutishauser's standard work on computer construction.
From BLOG@CACM
Discovery: User Manual of the Oldest Surviving Computer in the World
A rare find: the user manual of the oldest surviving computer in the world, the Zuse Z4 relay machine (1945).
From BLOG@CACM
Automatic Translators are Not Really Capable of Learning
One does not get the impression the Google Translate and DeepL translation programs are self-learning and have made real progress.
From BLOG@CACM
The World's Largest Commercial Cylindrical Slide Rule has a Scale Length of 24m
The world's largest mass-produced cylindrical slide rules come from Loga-Calculator AG in Zurich/Uster, Switzerland.
From BLOG@CACM
Why Is There No Well-Known Swiss IT Industry?
Herbert Bruderer asks why no information technology industry emerged in Switzerland in the 1950s, despite the appearance of computers from several sources.
From BLOG@CACM
Leonardo da Vinci's Robot Lion
We are celebrating the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death with a major exhibition of the Renaissance painter's works.12