Charles Babbage was a key figure of a great era of British history. Best remembered for his pioneering Difference and Analytical Engines, forerunners of the modern computer, Babbage was also an active reformer of science and society. Among his friends were the Bonapartes, the Duke of Wellington, the Duke of Somerset, Byron's daughter Ada Lovelace and the reforming Earl of Shaftesbury, whose interest Babbage directed to the factories. In this book, Anthony Hyman has selected passages from Babbage's many publications, including his proposals on profit sharing and life peerages and his ideas on such topics as the applications of science, scientific management, taxation and life assurance. Setting each extract in perspective, Hyman has provided the passages with an explanatory editorial commentary. Together with his concern for the systematic application of science, technology and mathematical method to commercial, industrial and economic problems, his work on computing makes Charles
The mathematician and engineer Charles Babbage (1791–1871) is best remembered for his 'calculating machines', which are considered the forerunner of modern computers. Over the course of his life he wrote a number of books based on his scientific investigations, but in this volume, published in 1864, Babbage writes in a more personal vein. He points out at the beginning of the work that it 'does not aspire to the name of autobiography', though the chapters sketch out the contours of his life, beginning with his family, his childhood and formative years studying at Cambridge, and moving through various episodes in his scientific career. However, the work also diverges into his observations on other topics, as indicated by chapter titles such as 'Street Nuisances' and 'Wit'. Babbage's colourful recollections give an intimate portrait of the life of one of Britain's most influential inventors.
By the end of the eighteenth century, British mathematics had been stuck in a rut for a hundred years. Calculus was still taught in the style of Newton, with no recognition of the great advances made in continental Europe. The examination system at Cambridge even mandated the use of Newtonian notation. As discontented undergraduates, Charles Babbage (1791–1871) and John Herschel (1792–1871) formed the Analytical Society in 1811. The group, including William Whewell and George Peacock, sought to promote the new continental mathematics. Babbage's preface to the present work, first published in 1813, may be considered the movement's manifesto. He provided the first paper here, and Herschel the two others. Although the group was relatively short-lived, its ideas took root as its erstwhile members rose to prominence. As the society's sole publication, this remains a significant text in the history of British mathematics.
Originally published in 1820, this is an early work by the renowned mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage (1791–1871). The text was written to provide mathematical students with an accessible introduction to functional equations, an area that had been previously absent from elementary mathematical literature. A short bibliography is also contained. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in Babbage and the history of mathematics.
