Charles Babbage Quotes and Sayings - Page 1
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“The economy of human time is the next advantage of machinery in manufactures.”
-- Charles BabbageSource : Charles Babbage (1841). “On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures”, p.8
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“Errors using inadequate data are much less than those using no data at all.”
-- Charles BabbageSource : Attributed to Charles Babbage in William Kenneth Richmond "The Education Industry", 1969.
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“Unless there exist peculiar institutions for the support of such inquirers, or unless the Government directly interfere, the contriver of a thaumatrope may derive profit from his ingenuity, whilst he who unravels the laws of light and vision, on which multitudes of phenomena depend, shall descend unrewarded to the tomb.”
-- Charles Babbage -
“The whole of the developments and operations of analysis are now capable of being executed by machinery ... As soon as an Analytical Engine exists, it will necessarily guide the future course of science.”
-- Charles Babbage -
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“For one person who is blessed with the power of invention, many will always be found who have the capacity of applying principles.”
-- Charles BabbageSource : Charles Babbage (1830). “Reflections on the Decline of Science in England, and on Some of Its Causes”, p.18
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“The difference between a tool and a machine is not capable of very precise distinction; nor is it necessary, in a popular explanation of those terms, to limit very strictly their acceptation.”
-- Charles Babbage -
“At each increase of knowledge, as well as on the contrivance of every new tool, human labour becomes abridged.”
-- Charles BabbageSource : Charles Babbage (1832). “On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures”, p.8
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“The proportion between the velocity with which men or animals move, and the weights they carry, is a matter of considerable importance, particularly in military affairs.”
-- Charles Babbage -
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“On two occasions I have been asked, 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.”
-- Charles BabbageSource : Passages from the Life of a Philosopher ch. 5 (1864) See Countess of Lovelace 1; Modern Proverbs 35
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“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.”
-- Charles Babbage -
“Surely, if knowledge is valuable, it can never be good policy in a country far wealthier than Tuscany, to allow a genius like Mr. Dalton's, to be employed in the drudgery of elementary instruction.”
-- Charles Babbage -
“In turning from the smaller instruments in frequent use to the larger and more important machines, the economy arising from the increase of velocity becomes more striking.”
-- Charles BabbageSource : Charles Babbage (1832). “On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures”, p.26
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“The fatigue produced on the muscles of the human frame does not altogether depend on the actual force employed in each effort, but partly on the frequency with which it is exerted.”
-- Charles Babbage -
“The possessors of wealth can scarcely be indifferent to processes which, nearly or remotely have been the fertile source of their possessions.”
-- Charles BabbageSource : Charles Babbage (1841). “On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures”, p.4
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“Telegraphs are machines for conveying information over extensive lines with great rapidity.”
-- Charles BabbageSource : Charles Babbage (1841). “On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures”, p.36
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“Another mode of accumulating power arises from lifting a weight and then allowing it to fall.”
-- Charles Babbage -
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“A powerful attraction exists, therefore, to the promotion of a study and of duties of all others engrossing the time most completely, and which is less benefited than most others by any acquaintance with science.”
-- Charles BabbageSource : Charles Babbage (1830). “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).”, p.13
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“I am inclined to attach some importance to the new system of manufacturing; and venture to throw it out with the hope of its receiving a full discussion among those who are most interestedin the subject.”
-- Charles BabbageSource : Charles Babbage (1841). “On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures”, p.8
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“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.”
-- Charles Babbage -
“A tool is usually more simple than a machine; it is generally used with the hand, whilst a machine is frequently moved by animal or steam power.”
-- Charles Babbage -
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“The half minute which we daily devote to the winding-up of our watches is an exertion of labour almost insensible; yet, by the aid of a few wheels, its effect is spread over the whole twenty-four hours.”
-- Charles Babbage -
“Precedents are treated by powerful minds as fetters with which to bind down the weak, as reasons with which to mistify the moderately informed, and as reeds which they themselves fearlessly break through whenever new combinations and difficult emergencies demand their highest efforts.”
-- Charles Babbage -
“The tastes and pursuits of manhood will bear on them the traces of the earlier impressions of our education. It is therefore not unreasonable to suppose that some portion of the neglect of science in England, may be attributed to the system of education we pursue.”
-- Charles Babbage -
“A young man passes from our public schools to the universities, ignorant almost of the elements of every branch of useful knowledge.”
-- Charles BabbageSource : Charles Babbage, Anthony Hyman (1989). “Science and Reform: Selected Works of Charles Babbage”, p.116, Cambridge University Press
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“Perhaps it would be better for science, that all criticism should be avowed.”
-- Charles BabbageSource : Charles Babbage (1830). “Reflections on the Decline of Science in England, and on Some of Its Causes”, p.9
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“If we look at the fact, we shall find that the great inventions of the age are not, with us at least, always produced in universities.”
-- Charles BabbageSource : Charles Babbage (1830). “Reflections on the Decline of Science in England, and on Some of Its Causes”, p.21
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“That a country, [England], eminently distinguished for its mechanical and manufacturing ingenuity, should be indifferent to the progress of inquiries which form the highest departments of that knowledge on whose more elementary truths its wealth and rank depend, is a fact which is well deserving the attention of those who shall inquire into the causes that influence the progress of nations.”
-- Charles Babbage -
“Whenever the work is itself light, it becomes necessary, in order to economize time, to increase the velocity.”
-- Charles Babbage -
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“Trimming consists of clipping off little bits here and there from those observations which differ most in excess from the mean, and in sticking them onto those which are too small; a species of 'equitable adjustment,' as a radical would term it, which cannot be admitted in science.”
-- 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.”
-- Charles Babbage
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