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Quote by Patrick Ness

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The Ask and the Answer

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Patrick Ness
Patrick Ness

Patrick Ness, born on October 17, 1971, is a renowned author from the United Kingdom. Known for his unique writing style and engaging narratives, Ness has made a significant impact in the realm of young adult literature. His works often delve into complex human relationships and emotional experiences, resonating with both young readers and literary critics. more

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“And why does England thus persecute the votaries of her science? Why does she depress them to the level of her hewers of wood and her drawers of water? Is it because science flatters no courtier, mingles in no political strife? ... Can we behold unmoved the science of England, the vital principle of her arts, struggling for existence, the meek and unarmed victim of political strife? [Reviewing Charles Babbage's Book, Reflections on the Decline of Science in England (1830)]”

SciencePoliticsEnglandPersecutionBabbageCharles Babbage
Author:David Brewster
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“France had recently switched to the metric system of measurement. This gave scientists a much-needed standardized system to measure and compare results, but it also required a whole new set of calculating tables. The sheer number of calculations was beyond what could be accomplished by all the mathematicians in France, so Riche established calculating 'factories' to manufacture logarithms the same way workers manufactured mercantile goods. Each factory employed between 60 and 80 human 'computers.' But they weren’t trained mathematicians; they were mostly out-of-work hairdressers who had found their skill at constructing elaborate pompadours for aristocrats much less in demand after so many former clients lost their heads at the height of the French Revolution. Riche had hit upon a rote system of compiling results based on a set of given values and formulas, and the workers just cranked out the answers in what must have been the world’s first mathematical assembly line. Babbage figured that if an army of untrained hairdressers could make the calculations, so could a computing 'engine.”

ComputerMathFranceBabbageHairdressersAnalytical Engine
Author:Jennifer Ouellette
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“The past was past; whatever it had been, it was no more at hand. Whatever its consequences, time would close over them; they would all in a few years be as if they had never been, and she herself grassed down and forgotten. Meanwhile the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings had not darkened because of her grief, no sickened because of her pain.”

PastTimeSufferingNature
Book:Tess of the D’Urbervilles
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