Charles Babbage born Dec 26, 1791 was an English mathematician who was a pioneer of mechanical computation. By 1822, he had a small calculating machine able to compute squares. He produced prototypes of portions of a larger Difference Engine. In 1833 he began his programmable Analytical Machine, a forerunner of modern computers. His other inventions include the cowcatcher, dynamometer, standard railroad gauge, uniform postal rates, occulting lights for lighthouses, Greenwich time signals, heliograph opthalmoscope. He also had an interest in cyphers and lock-picking. Some prescient Babbagisms: Errors using inadequate data are much less than those using no data at all. Simplified restatement of another quotation by Babbage. Scientific knowledge scarcely exists amongst the higher classes of society. The discussion in the Houses of Lords or of Commons, which arise on the occurrence of any subjects connected with science, sufficiently prove this fact… . Reflections on the Decline of Science in England (1830), 8. (How familiar is that? TT) The whole of the developments and operations of analysis are now capable of being executed by machinery ... As soon as an Analytical Engine exists, it will necessarily guide the future course of science. Passages From the Life of a Philosopher (1864), 136-137. Said of Babbages Analytical Machine, by Countess of Lovelace Augusta Ada King (daughter of Lord Byron): The Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves. [Describing Charles Babbages machine.] from Bibliothègue Universelle de Génève (Oct 1842), No. 82) in Richard Taylor (ed.), Scientific Memoirs (1843), 3, 696.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 13:34:51 +0000
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