Victorian computing, invented by Charles Babbage. Instead of using mathematical tables, Babbage wanted to build a machine capable of calculating series of numerical values with automatically printing the results. He never finished it, though. There's a comprehensive Swiss website about his machine, along with a JAVA 'Analytical Engine Emulator'; and of course the exhibit at London's Science Museum."Charles Babbage (1791-1871) is widely regarded as the first computer pioneer and the great ancestral figure in the history of computing. Babbage excelled in a variety of scientific and philosophical subjects though his present-day reputation rests largely on the invention and design of his vast mechanical calculating engines. His Analytical Engine conceived in 1834 is one of the startling intellectual feats of the nineteenth century. The design of this machine possesses all the essential logical features of the modern general purpose computer. "
The Cartoonist - am Samstag, 22. März 2003, 12:39 - Rubrik: computer und rechenmaschinen
rip meinte am 22. Mrz, 12:43:
did you read
"the difference engine" by bruce sterling and william gibson? it's an alternative look at our past written like a scifi - what if the computerization of the civilization took place in the 19. century with steam engines and babbage's invention?
majo meinte am 22. Mrz, 13:12:
Differenz-Maschine
Witzig - ich wollte gerade zugeben, daß ich lese: im Moment das Buch "Die Differenzmaschine" von Gibson & Sterling. Schon gibt rip das auch zu...Die Welt ist ein Dorf.
MH meinte am 22. Mrz, 13:36:
Bleibt hinzuzufügen, dass Babbages Difference Engine No. 2, (im Gegensatz zur Analytical Engine nicht programmierbar) tatsächlich 1991 nach seinen Plänen gebaut wurde, und wie geplant funktionierte. Ich habe das Ding im Londoner Science Museum gesehen - beeindruckend. Es kam 1993 sogar zu einem Rennen zwischen der Difference Engine No. 2 und einem damals modernen 486er-Notebook von Canon. Die mechanische Rechenmaschine schlug sich wacker.
