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From: Anton Shepelev <anton.txt@gmail.moc>
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Babbage and Dark Mode
Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2025 18:04:44 +0300
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Ian:

> Babbage explored (in the paper & ink era!) many of the
> issues raised in the Dark Mode thread. There is a book of
> mathematical tables in the Science Museum in London, which
> he had printed with varying type colours on varying paper
> colours. His objective was to see what combination was
> most reliably readable. I don't remember his conclusion,
> and unfortunately I haven't been able to find an image
> online.

At least we know what to look for:

   Specimen of logarithmic tables
   printed with different coloured inks
   on variously coloured papers

recently (1988) published in issue 3, volume 10,
of /Annals of the History of Computing/.

See also:

   Babbage's Guidelines for the Design of Mathematical Notations:
   <https://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~dirk/dutzSchlimm2021-AM-babbage_guidelines.pdf>

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