ORPP logo
Image from Google Jackets

Charles Babbage : And the Engines of Perfection.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextSeries: Oxford Portraits in Science SeriesPublisher: Oxford : Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 1999Copyright date: ©1999Edition: 1st edDescription: 1 online resource (128 pages)Content type:
  • text
Media type:
  • computer
Carrier type:
  • online resource
ISBN:
  • 9780198025085
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Additional physical formats: Print version:: Charles BabbageDDC classification:
  • 510/.92 B
LOC classification:
  • QA29.B2 .C655 1998
Online resources:
Contents:
Intro -- Contents -- Chapter 1: The Making of a Mathematician -- Chapter 2: In Scientific Circles -- Sidebar: Logarithms Explained -- Chapter 3: Inventing the Difference Engine -- Sidebar: Differences in Sequences of Numbers -- Sidebar: Early Mechanical Calculators -- Chapter 4: Reform Is in the Air -- Sidebar: The Operation of the Jacquard Loom -- Chapter 5: Inventing the Analytic Engine -- Chapter 6: Passages in a Philosopher's Life -- Chapter 7: After Babbage -- Museums and Web Sites Related to Charles Babbage -- Chronology -- Further Reading -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W.
Summary: Charles Babbage, the grandfather of the modern computer, did not live to see even one of his calculating machines at work. A dazzling genius with vision extending far beyond the limitations of the Victorian age, Babbage successfully calculated a table of logarithms during his years atCambridge University, allowing mathematical calculations to be executed with extreme precision. Only the possibility of human error prevented complete accuracy, and Babbage understood that the only way to attain perfection is to leave the human mind entirely out of the equation. He devoted most ofhis life and spent most of his private fortune and government stipend trying to improve his difference engines and analytical engines.Bruce Collier and James MacLachlan chronicle Babbage's education and scientific career, his remarkably active social life and long string of personal tragedies, his forays into philosophy and economics, his successes and failures, and the biggest disappointment of his life-- his ingeniousinventions were centuries ahead of the primitive capabilities of Victorian technology.
Tags from this library: No tags from this library for this title. Log in to add tags.
Star ratings
    Average rating: 0.0 (0 votes)
No physical items for this record

Intro -- Contents -- Chapter 1: The Making of a Mathematician -- Chapter 2: In Scientific Circles -- Sidebar: Logarithms Explained -- Chapter 3: Inventing the Difference Engine -- Sidebar: Differences in Sequences of Numbers -- Sidebar: Early Mechanical Calculators -- Chapter 4: Reform Is in the Air -- Sidebar: The Operation of the Jacquard Loom -- Chapter 5: Inventing the Analytic Engine -- Chapter 6: Passages in a Philosopher's Life -- Chapter 7: After Babbage -- Museums and Web Sites Related to Charles Babbage -- Chronology -- Further Reading -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W.

Charles Babbage, the grandfather of the modern computer, did not live to see even one of his calculating machines at work. A dazzling genius with vision extending far beyond the limitations of the Victorian age, Babbage successfully calculated a table of logarithms during his years atCambridge University, allowing mathematical calculations to be executed with extreme precision. Only the possibility of human error prevented complete accuracy, and Babbage understood that the only way to attain perfection is to leave the human mind entirely out of the equation. He devoted most ofhis life and spent most of his private fortune and government stipend trying to improve his difference engines and analytical engines.Bruce Collier and James MacLachlan chronicle Babbage's education and scientific career, his remarkably active social life and long string of personal tragedies, his forays into philosophy and economics, his successes and failures, and the biggest disappointment of his life-- his ingeniousinventions were centuries ahead of the primitive capabilities of Victorian technology.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.

There are no comments on this title.

to post a comment.

© 2024 Resource Centre. All rights reserved.