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From: Salvador Mirzo <smirzo@example.com>
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Babbage and Dark Mode
Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2025 23:29:01 -0300
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Anton Shepelev <anton.txt@gmail.moc> writes:

> 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>

Thank you so much for the references!  I had no idea about this.