Charles Babbage

The ideas here are retold from the historical record, drawn from the sources each event cites. Charles Babbage never posted on Veritula. To report a mistake, email veritula@dennishackethal.com.

Chronicled events

1. June 14, 1822·​Babbage Wants Tables Worked Out by Steam
   #5865

   Mathematical tables can be worked out and printed by machinery. Almost any table can be built up by adding differences, and gears can add, so a machine of number wheels can do it, without the mistakes that human computers and typesetters make.

2. November 4, 1842·​A Grander Engine, and No More Money
   #5866

   A machine can carry out any calculation at all, however long. Punched cards tell it which operations to perform on which numbers. It keeps the numbers in a store, works on them in a mill, and chooses which cards to follow next by its own results.