Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 British mathematics 1800–30
- 3 The Analytical Society
- 4 The calculus of functions
- 5 ‘The Philosophy of Analysis’
- 6 Miscellaneous papers in analysis, probability and geometry
- 7 Notation
- 8 Babbage and his computers
- 9 Conclusion
- Appendix: mathematical books and papers by Charles Babbage
- Index
8 - Babbage and his computers
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 British mathematics 1800–30
- 3 The Analytical Society
- 4 The calculus of functions
- 5 ‘The Philosophy of Analysis’
- 6 Miscellaneous papers in analysis, probability and geometry
- 7 Notation
- 8 Babbage and his computers
- 9 Conclusion
- Appendix: mathematical books and papers by Charles Babbage
- Index
Summary
There is no doubt that Babbage's major life interest was in the invention and construction of his calculating engines. He began work on these machines in 1819 and continued actively with few breaks until his death in 1871. These calculators, particularly, as will be shown, the analytical engine, embody all the important components of a modern computer; there was no field in which Babbage made such a vitally important contribution to science, and in which his ideas were so far ahead of his contemporaries. On the other hand, the engines meant to their creator immense toil, frustration, financial loss, and in the end failure to complete any of the ambitious projects he had intended.
Babbage invented his engines at a time when the concept of mechanical calculators had not gone beyond the idea of adding machines, with contrivances that could multiply by means of continual addition and were usually worked by turning a handle. It was also a time in which precision in mechanical engineering was certainly not of a high enough order to make his own very elaborate engines a viable proposition. Consequently, Babbage was faced at all times with the double problem, mathematical and mechanical, of not only originating the whole concept of automatic computing but also constructing a suitable machinery that would be precise enough to put this into practice. As a by-product of his ideas on computation, Babbage succeeded in setting a new standard of precision for the mechanical engineering industry, inventing a mechanical notation for the working part of his engines, and making many valuable observations and suggestions concerning mass production.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Mathematical Work of Charles Babbage , pp. 173 - 219Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1978