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Charles Babbage Quotes

Mathematician

Charles Babbage, born on December 26, 1791 and died on October 18, 1871, was a renowned British mathematician, inventor, and engineer, often referred to as the 'father of computers'. He made significant contributions in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and mechanical engineering, and his designs of the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine laid the foundation for the development of computer science.

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Famous Charles Babbage Quotes

“Those from whose pocket the salary is drawn, and by whose appointment the officer was made, have always a right to discuss the merits of their officers, and their modes of exercising the duties they are paid to perform.”

Made Duty Exercise Paid Merit Pockets Officers Salary Appointments

Book:Reflections on the Decline of Science in England, and on Some of Its Causes

Source: Reflections on the Decline of Science in England, and on Some of Its Causes

“Some kinds of nails, such as those used for defending the soles of coarse shoes, called hobnails, require a particular form of the head, which is made by the stroke of a die.”

Kind Made Form Used Dies Particular Shoes Boots Nails Strokes Coarse

Book:An Essay on General Principles which regulate the Application of Machinery to Manufactures

Source: An Essay on General Principles which regulate the Application of Machinery to Manufactures

“Forging differs from hoaxing, inasmuch as in the later the deceit is intended to last for a time, and then be discovered, to the ridicule of those who have credited it; whereas the forger is one who, wishing to acquire a reputation for science, records observations which he has never made.”

Made Lasts Science Wish Records Reputation Observation Acquire Deceit Manipulation Ridicule Forging

Book:Reflections on the Decline of Science in England: And on Some of Its Causes, by Charles Babbage (1830). To which is Added On the Alleged Decline of Science in England, by a Foreigner (Gerard Moll) with a Foreword by Michael Faraday (1831).

Source: Reflections on the Decline of Science in England: And on Some of Its Causes, by Charles Babbage (1830). To which is Added On the Alleged Decline of Science in England, by a Foreigner (Gerard Moll) with a Foreword by Michael Faraday (1831).

“Of Cooking. This is an art of various forms, the object of which is to give ordinary observations the appearance and character of those of the highest degree of accuracy. One of its numerous processes is to make multitudes of observations, and out of these to select only those which agree, or very nearly agree. If a hundred observations are made, the cook must be very unhappy if he cannot pick out fifteen or twenty which will do for serving up.”

Source: Science and Reform: Selected Works of Charles Babbage

“Mechanical Notation ... I look upon it as one of the most important additions I have made to human knowledge. It has placed the construction of machinery in the rank of a demonstrative science. The day will arrive when no school of mechanical drawing will be thought complete without teaching it.”

Humans Looks Made Important School Teaching Computer Drawing Look Up Construction Machinery Human Knowledge

Book:Passages from the Life of a Philosopher

Source: Passages from the Life of a Philosopher