Home » Archimedes archive » Archimedes World » AW-1993-01.adf » AWJan93 » !AWJan93/Goodies/Wimp/Babbage/!Babbage/TextFile
!AWJan93/Goodies/Wimp/Babbage/!Babbage/TextFile
This website contains an archive of files for the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Acorn Archimedes, Commodore 16 and Commodore 64 computers, which Dominic Ford has rescued from his private collection of floppy disks and cassettes.
Some of these files were originally commercial releases in the 1980s and 1990s, but they are now widely available online. I assume that copyright over them is no longer being asserted. If you own the copyright and would like files to be removed, please contact me.
| Tape/disk: | Home » Archimedes archive » Archimedes World » AW-1993-01.adf » AWJan93 |
| Filename: | !AWJan93/Goodies/Wimp/Babbage/!Babbage/TextFile |
| Read OK: | ✔ |
| File size: | 04A7 bytes |
| Load address: | 0000 |
| Exec address: | 0000 |
File contents
The English mathematician Charles Babbage was born at Totnes in Devon on December 26 1792. He went up to Trinity college, Cambridge in 1810 where he helped found the "Analytical Society" whose object was to invigorate the then old-fashioned methods of English mathematics with the then more modern approach of continental Europe. In the years 1815-17 he contributed some papers on the "Calculus of Functions" and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1816. From 1828 to 1839 Babbage was the Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cam- bridge. Although he published papers on mathematics, statistics, physics and geology he is best remembered for his work on mechanical calculators. Over many years Babbage produced designs for mechanical calculators. The most famous of these was his "Difference Engine" which, although it received the support of the Royal Society, was refused funds by the government of Sir Robert Peel. A machine based on Babbage's ideas was produced in Sweden by the Stockholm company of Scheutz (1855). In 1834 Babbage invented the principle of his "Analytical Engine" which many believe to be the forerunner of the modern day digital computer.
00000000 0a 0a 0a 54 68 65 20 45 6e 67 6c 69 73 68 20 6d |...The English m| 00000010 61 74 68 65 6d 61 74 69 63 69 61 6e 20 43 68 61 |athematician Cha| 00000020 72 6c 65 73 20 42 61 62 62 61 67 65 0a 77 61 73 |rles Babbage.was| 00000030 20 62 6f 72 6e 20 61 74 20 54 6f 74 6e 65 73 20 | born at Totnes | 00000040 69 6e 20 44 65 76 6f 6e 20 6f 6e 20 44 65 63 65 |in Devon on Dece| 00000050 6d 62 65 72 20 32 36 0a 31 37 39 32 2e 20 48 65 |mber 26.1792. He| 00000060 20 77 65 6e 74 20 75 70 20 74 6f 20 54 72 69 6e | went up to Trin| 00000070 69 74 79 20 63 6f 6c 6c 65 67 65 2c 20 0a 43 61 |ity college, .Ca| 00000080 6d 62 72 69 64 67 65 20 69 6e 20 31 38 31 30 20 |mbridge in 1810 | 00000090 77 68 65 72 65 20 68 65 20 68 65 6c 70 65 64 20 |where he helped | 000000a0 66 6f 75 6e 64 20 74 68 65 20 0a 22 41 6e 61 6c |found the ."Anal| 000000b0 79 74 69 63 61 6c 20 53 6f 63 69 65 74 79 22 20 |ytical Society" | 000000c0 77 68 6f 73 65 20 6f 62 6a 65 63 74 20 77 61 73 |whose object was| 000000d0 20 74 6f 0a 69 6e 76 69 67 6f 72 61 74 65 20 74 | to.invigorate t| 000000e0 68 65 20 74 68 65 6e 20 6f 6c 64 2d 66 61 73 68 |he then old-fash| 000000f0 69 6f 6e 65 64 20 6d 65 74 68 6f 64 73 0a 6f 66 |ioned methods.of| 00000100 20 45 6e 67 6c 69 73 68 20 6d 61 74 68 65 6d 61 | English mathema| 00000110 74 69 63 73 20 77 69 74 68 20 74 68 65 20 74 68 |tics with the th| 00000120 65 6e 20 6d 6f 72 65 0a 6d 6f 64 65 72 6e 20 61 |en more.modern a| 00000130 70 70 72 6f 61 63 68 20 6f 66 20 63 6f 6e 74 69 |pproach of conti| 00000140 6e 65 6e 74 61 6c 20 45 75 72 6f 70 65 2e 0a 0a |nental Europe...| 00000150 49 6e 20 74 68 65 20 79 65 61 72 73 20 31 38 31 |In the years 181| 00000160 35 2d 31 37 20 68 65 20 63 6f 6e 74 72 69 62 75 |5-17 he contribu| 00000170 74 65 64 20 73 6f 6d 65 0a 70 61 70 65 72 73 20 |ted some.papers | 00000180 6f 6e 20 74 68 65 20 22 43 61 6c 63 75 6c 75 73 |on the "Calculus| 00000190 20 6f 66 20 46 75 6e 63 74 69 6f 6e 73 22 20 61 | of Functions" a| 000001a0 6e 64 0a 77 61 73 20 65 6c 65 63 74 65 64 20 61 |nd.was elected a| 000001b0 20 66 65 6c 6c 6f 77 20 6f 66 20 74 68 65 20 52 | fellow of the R| 000001c0 6f 79 61 6c 20 53 6f 63 69 65 74 79 0a 69 6e 20 |oyal Society.in | 000001d0 31 38 31 36 2e 20 46 72 6f 6d 20 31 38 32 38 20 |1816. From 1828 | 000001e0 74 6f 20 31 38 33 39 20 42 61 62 62 61 67 65 20 |to 1839 Babbage | 000001f0 77 61 73 20 74 68 65 0a 4c 75 63 61 73 69 61 6e |was the.Lucasian| 00000200 20 70 72 6f 66 65 73 73 6f 72 20 6f 66 20 6d 61 | professor of ma| 00000210 74 68 65 6d 61 74 69 63 73 20 61 74 20 43 61 6d |thematics at Cam| 00000220 2d 0a 62 72 69 64 67 65 2e 0a 0a 41 6c 74 68 6f |-.bridge...Altho| 00000230 75 67 68 20 68 65 20 70 75 62 6c 69 73 68 65 64 |ugh he published| 00000240 20 70 61 70 65 72 73 20 6f 6e 20 6d 61 74 68 65 | papers on mathe| 00000250 6d 61 74 69 63 73 2c 0a 73 74 61 74 69 73 74 69 |matics,.statisti| 00000260 63 73 2c 20 70 68 79 73 69 63 73 20 61 6e 64 20 |cs, physics and | 00000270 67 65 6f 6c 6f 67 79 20 68 65 20 69 73 20 62 65 |geology he is be| 00000280 73 74 0a 72 65 6d 65 6d 62 65 72 65 64 20 66 6f |st.remembered fo| 00000290 72 20 68 69 73 20 77 6f 72 6b 20 6f 6e 20 6d 65 |r his work on me| 000002a0 63 68 61 6e 69 63 61 6c 0a 63 61 6c 63 75 6c 61 |chanical.calcula| 000002b0 74 6f 72 73 2e 0a 0a 0a 0a 0a 0a 0a 4f 76 65 72 |tors........Over| 000002c0 20 6d 61 6e 79 20 79 65 61 72 73 20 42 61 62 62 | many years Babb| 000002d0 61 67 65 20 70 72 6f 64 75 63 65 64 20 64 65 73 |age produced des| 000002e0 69 67 6e 73 0a 66 6f 72 20 6d 65 63 68 61 6e 69 |igns.for mechani| 000002f0 63 61 6c 20 63 61 6c 63 75 6c 61 74 6f 72 73 2e |cal calculators.| 00000300 20 54 68 65 20 6d 6f 73 74 20 66 61 6d 6f 75 73 | The most famous| 00000310 0a 6f 66 20 74 68 65 73 65 20 77 61 73 20 68 69 |.of these was hi| 00000320 73 20 22 44 69 66 66 65 72 65 6e 63 65 20 45 6e |s "Difference En| 00000330 67 69 6e 65 22 20 77 68 69 63 68 2c 0a 61 6c 74 |gine" which,.alt| 00000340 68 6f 75 67 68 20 69 74 20 72 65 63 65 69 76 65 |hough it receive| 00000350 64 20 74 68 65 20 73 75 70 70 6f 72 74 20 6f 66 |d the support of| 00000360 20 74 68 65 0a 52 6f 79 61 6c 20 53 6f 63 69 65 | the.Royal Socie| 00000370 74 79 2c 20 77 61 73 20 72 65 66 75 73 65 64 20 |ty, was refused | 00000380 66 75 6e 64 73 20 62 79 20 74 68 65 0a 67 6f 76 |funds by the.gov| 00000390 65 72 6e 6d 65 6e 74 20 6f 66 20 53 69 72 20 52 |ernment of Sir R| 000003a0 6f 62 65 72 74 20 50 65 65 6c 2e 20 41 20 6d 61 |obert Peel. A ma| 000003b0 63 68 69 6e 65 0a 62 61 73 65 64 20 6f 6e 20 42 |chine.based on B| 000003c0 61 62 62 61 67 65 27 73 20 69 64 65 61 73 20 77 |abbage's ideas w| 000003d0 61 73 20 70 72 6f 64 75 63 65 64 20 69 6e 0a 53 |as produced in.S| 000003e0 77 65 64 65 6e 20 62 79 20 74 68 65 20 53 74 6f |weden by the Sto| 000003f0 63 6b 68 6f 6c 6d 20 63 6f 6d 70 61 6e 79 20 6f |ckholm company o| 00000400 66 20 53 63 68 65 75 74 7a 0a 28 31 38 35 35 29 |f Scheutz.(1855)| 00000410 2e 0a 0a 49 6e 20 31 38 33 34 20 42 61 62 62 61 |...In 1834 Babba| 00000420 67 65 20 69 6e 76 65 6e 74 65 64 20 74 68 65 20 |ge invented the | 00000430 70 72 69 6e 63 69 70 6c 65 20 6f 66 0a 68 69 73 |principle of.his| 00000440 20 22 41 6e 61 6c 79 74 69 63 61 6c 20 45 6e 67 | "Analytical Eng| 00000450 69 6e 65 22 20 77 68 69 63 68 20 6d 61 6e 79 20 |ine" which many | 00000460 62 65 6c 69 65 76 65 0a 74 6f 20 62 65 20 74 68 |believe.to be th| 00000470 65 20 66 6f 72 65 72 75 6e 6e 65 72 20 6f 66 20 |e forerunner of | 00000480 74 68 65 20 6d 6f 64 65 72 6e 20 64 61 79 0a 64 |the modern day.d| 00000490 69 67 69 74 61 6c 20 63 6f 6d 70 75 74 65 72 2e |igital computer.| 000004a0 0a 0a 0a 0a 0a 0a 0a |.......| 000004a7
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