B chapter.indd - Charles Babbage Institute - University of Minnesota

Erwin Tomash Library
Boole, George Booth, Andrew Donald
B 201
Boole, George (1815–1864)
A treatise on the calculus of finite differences.
Year: 1860
Place: Cambridge
Publisher: Macmillan
Edition: 1st
Language: English
Binding: original cloth boards
Pagination: pp. [viii], 248
Collation: π 4 1–15 8 16 4
Size: 190x126 mm
This work contains material for which George Boole was
well known in his lifetime but which is now so completely
overshadowed by his contributions to mathematical logic
as to be almost forgotten.
Illustrations available:
Title page
B 202
Booth, Andrew Donald (1918–)
Numerical methods
George Boole, B 200
Year: 1955
Place: London
Publisher: Butterworths Scientific Publications
Edition: 1st
Language: English
Binding: original cloth boards
Pagination: pp. viii, 196
Size: 218x136 mm
B 201
Booth was a member of staff at Birkbeck College in
London. He became interested in computation early in
his career. Immediately after World War II, he had an
opportunity to visit the United States and see computer
developments there. In particular, he spent some time
at the Institute for Advanced Study. Upon his return to
England, he commenced the construction of a small
relay-based computer (he was unable to afford electronic
components, and, more importantly, the infrastructure that
would be required to both experiment with and construct
the final circuits). He was aided in this project by his
father, a fine mechanical engineer, and Miss Kathleen
Britten, who later became his wife. These projects are
described in the works noted in other entries.
Booth was known for the creation of a number of
computing machines all based upon the same basic
design. He and his father eventually went into business
as Wharf Engineering and produced magnetic drums that
were widely used on early computers. In the early 1960s,
Booth again visited the U.S., then moved to Canada as
dean of engineering at the University of Saskatchewan,
where he continued to make small transistor computers
for experimental use. He later became president of
Lakehead University in Canada.
This work on numerical methods was published just
as the computer revolution was beginning and was
one of the first books to be oriented towards this new
technology. The students who used this text at Birkbeck
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