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[BABBAGE, Charles]. Annual report of the board of regents of the smithsonian institution, showing the operations, expenditures, and condition of the institution, for the year 1856. And the proceedings of the board up to january 28, 1857.

Washington. A. O. P. Nicholson, 1857. First edition.
8vo. 467pp, [1]. Original publisher's blind-stamped green cloth, lettered in gilt to spine. Rubbed, heavily marked and sunned. Book-label of Erwin Tomash to FEP, scattered spotting.
The first edition of an annual report released by the Smithsonian Institution in 1857, comprising a selection of lectures, discoveries and experiments across the fields of natural history, physics, meteorology and material science. The report contains an essay by Charles Babbage (1791-1871), considered the 'father of computing', in which he expresses his belief in the design argument, and explains how his study of natural phenomena has led him to assert the existence of God.

From the recently dispersed library of Erwin Tomash (1921-2012), American engineer recognised for his early pioneering work with computer equipment peripherals. His library consisted of over 3,000 books and manuscripts relevant to the history of computation, from medieval and renaissance works on arithmetic, finger-reckoning and the abacus, to the birth in the twentieth century of theoretical and practical computer science under Alan Turing.
Tomash B59.
£ 125.00 Antiquates Ref: 22390