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CHARLES BABBAGE
1ST COMPUTING MACHINE
1791-1871
Charles Babbage, was one of four children born to Betsy Plumleigh-Teape and Benjamin Babbage, a banker & partner of William Praed Praed & Co of Fleet Street. Charles was a man with plenty of vision & quite a genius ahead of his time. He is the one we all have to thank for something that each of us use today for Family History research-"The Computer".
Born in London on December 26 1791. Charles was passionate about mathematics, especially algebra. As a young man, he studied at Trinity College Cambridge in 1811 & was more advanced than his tutors in mathematics. In his twenties, he worked as a mathematician in the calculus of functions. He played a part in founding the Astronomical Society in 1820, later known as the Royal Astronomical Society. Around this time, Babbage became interested in calculating machinery, which turned out to be his life long passion.
In 1821 Charles Babbage invented a machine called the "Difference Engine" which could compile mathematical tables. Babbage was recognized by respected scientific institutions, but the British government suspended funding in 1832 for his Difference Engine, so the project took until 1842 to finish. On completion of Babbage's Difference Engine, he'd had an even better idea for a machine that could perform any mathematical calculation. The new machine he called "The Analytical Engine" & it worked by manipulating symbols, which is a characteristic of today’s computers.
Unfortunately, little remains of Babbage's prototype computing machines. His ideas exceeded the level of technology available at that time, which must have been very frustrating for him.
In 1854, a Swedish printer named George Scheutz, successfully constructed a machine based on the designs for Babbage's Difference Engine, which printed mathematical, astronomical & actuarial tables with unprecedented accuracy. It was used by both the British & the American governments. Although after 1856, Charles Babbage devoted most of his life & fortune to the construction of his "Analytical Engine", he never succeeded in completing any of his designs for it.
Among other achievements, Babbage occupied the Lucasian chair of mathematics at Cambridge 1828-1839. He also played an important role in the establishment of the Association for the Advancement of Science & Statistical Society. Babbage co-founded the Analytical Society for promoting continental mathematics & the mathematics of Newton.
Babbage's work was continued by his son, Henry P. Babbage, but after Henry's death in 1918, the "Analytical Engine" was never successfully completed. It performed only a few functions with many errors.
Throughout his life Babbage worked in many intellectual fields typical of his day & made contributions that would have assured his fame, irrespective of the Difference & Analytical Engines. Despite his many achievements, the failure to construct his calculating machines & the lack of government support for his work, Babbage in his declining years was left a disappointed & embittered man. He died at his home in London on Oct.18 1871.
In 1985, the Science Museum in London began construction of the Difference Engine No. 2 using Babbage's
original designs. The calculating device was completed & working by 1991, just in time for the
bicentennial of Babbage's birth.
The device consists of 4000 parts and weighs over three metric tons. The printer for the Difference Engine No. 2 was completed nine years later, in 2000. It has 4000 parts and weighs 2.5 metric tons.
References
http://www.cbi.umn.edu/about/babbage.html
http://www.zephyrus.co.uk/charlesbabbage.html
Born in London on December 26 1791. Charles was passionate about mathematics, especially algebra. As a young man, he studied at Trinity College Cambridge in 1811 & was more advanced than his tutors in mathematics. In his twenties, he worked as a mathematician in the calculus of functions. He played a part in founding the Astronomical Society in 1820, later known as the Royal Astronomical Society. Around this time, Babbage became interested in calculating machinery, which turned out to be his life long passion.
In 1821 Charles Babbage invented a machine called the "Difference Engine" which could compile mathematical tables. Babbage was recognized by respected scientific institutions, but the British government suspended funding in 1832 for his Difference Engine, so the project took until 1842 to finish. On completion of Babbage's Difference Engine, he'd had an even better idea for a machine that could perform any mathematical calculation. The new machine he called "The Analytical Engine" & it worked by manipulating symbols, which is a characteristic of today’s computers.
Unfortunately, little remains of Babbage's prototype computing machines. His ideas exceeded the level of technology available at that time, which must have been very frustrating for him.
In 1854, a Swedish printer named George Scheutz, successfully constructed a machine based on the designs for Babbage's Difference Engine, which printed mathematical, astronomical & actuarial tables with unprecedented accuracy. It was used by both the British & the American governments. Although after 1856, Charles Babbage devoted most of his life & fortune to the construction of his "Analytical Engine", he never succeeded in completing any of his designs for it.
Among other achievements, Babbage occupied the Lucasian chair of mathematics at Cambridge 1828-1839. He also played an important role in the establishment of the Association for the Advancement of Science & Statistical Society. Babbage co-founded the Analytical Society for promoting continental mathematics & the mathematics of Newton.
Babbage's work was continued by his son, Henry P. Babbage, but after Henry's death in 1918, the "Analytical Engine" was never successfully completed. It performed only a few functions with many errors.
Throughout his life Babbage worked in many intellectual fields typical of his day & made contributions that would have assured his fame, irrespective of the Difference & Analytical Engines. Despite his many achievements, the failure to construct his calculating machines & the lack of government support for his work, Babbage in his declining years was left a disappointed & embittered man. He died at his home in London on Oct.18 1871.
In 1985, the Science Museum in London began construction of the Difference Engine No. 2 using Babbage's
original designs. The calculating device was completed & working by 1991, just in time for the
bicentennial of Babbage's birth.
The device consists of 4000 parts and weighs over three metric tons. The printer for the Difference Engine No. 2 was completed nine years later, in 2000. It has 4000 parts and weighs 2.5 metric tons.
References
http://www.cbi.umn.edu/about/babbage.html
http://www.zephyrus.co.uk/charlesbabbage.html
1. Analytic Engine & Difference Machine
2. People in his Life
3. Punch Cards
4. Hollerith Electric Tabulating System
5. Other Punch Hole Systems
2. People in his Life
3. Punch Cards
4. Hollerith Electric Tabulating System
5. Other Punch Hole Systems
Analytic Engine
& Difference Machine
& Difference Machine
The Reconstructed 'Difference Machine'
1:38
1:38
Analytic Engine
The four-function 'Analytic Engine' built from Charles' plans, by his son Henry. Designed for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
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Difference Machine
In 1985, the Science Museum in London began
construction of the Difference Engine No. 2 using Babbage's original designs. The calculating device was completed & working by 1991, just in time for the bicentennial of Babbage's birth. The device consists of 4000 parts and weighs over three metric tons. The printer for the Difference Engine No. 2 was completed nine years later, in 2000. It has 4000 parts and weighs 2.5 metric tons.
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New York Weekly Messenger 13 February 1833. http://www.vintagecomputer.net/babbage.cfm |
The Reconstructed Printer
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The Difference Engine No.2
5:47 Charles Babbage
6:05 |
Demonstration of the Difference Machine
24:09
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People in his Life
Augusta Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace, just prior to her death in 1852
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Augusta Ada Lovelace 1815-1852
Although her life was short, only 36 years, Augusta Ada Lovelace anticipated by more than a century most of what we think is brand-new computing. Her work with Charles Babbage and his Calculating Engines, produced what she called "the plan". In hindsight what Ada had proposed was a program stored on punch cards for use on an early computer, The Analytic Engine in 1843. Ada really believed in Babbage's invention, but others thought he was wasting his time. http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/lovela Augusta Ada Lovelace, way ahead of her time
… Supposing, for instance, that the fundamental relations of pitched sounds in the science of harmony and of musical composition were susceptible of such expression and adaptations, the engine might compose… pieces of music of any degree of complexity or extent.
ADA LOVELACE |
"Charles Babbage built the Engine,
Ada Lovelace programmed it"
Ada Lovelace programmed it"
Henry Prevost Babbage
(Son of Charles Babbage) Henry Prevost Babbage (1824-1918) youngest son of Charles Babbage and Georgiana Whitmore. Henry had a close bond with his father who bequeathed his drawings to Henry, who tried to continue his father's work. After his father's death in 1871, Henry continued his father's work. He assembled about six small demonstration pieces for Difference Engine No. 1. Henry also built an experimental four-function calculator the 'Analytical Engine', completing it in 1910 when he was eighty-six years old. http://www.computerhistory.org/babbage/henrybabb |
Punch Cards
Charles Babbage's "punch cards"
Basile Bouchon 1725 loom on display at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris
Basile Bouchon was a textile worker in the silk center in Lyon who invented a way to control a loom with a perforated paper tape in 1725. The son of an organ maker and a weaver and was familiar with the rotating pegged cylinders used in automated organs, such as the barrel organ. Bouchon partially automated the tedious setting up process of the drawloom in which an operator lifted the warp threads using cords. This is considered to be the first industrial application of a semi-automated machine.
http://history-computer.com/Dreamers/Bouchon A great improvement had been effected in the weaving of silk by a native of Lyons, named Joseph Marie Jacquard
The technical educator, an encyclopædia 1844 Joseph Marie Jacquard
Jacquard’s family surname was Charles, not “Jacquard”. In his grandfather’s generation, several branches of the Charles family lived on Lyon’s north side, so to distinguish the various branches, the community gave them nicknames; Joseph’s branch was called “Jacquard” Charles. (wiki)
In the course of the very few years which have elapsed since its first introduction into this country, the Jacquard loom has entirely taken the place of every other method of figured silk weaving, and has been, in no small degree, instrumental in bringing that curious & beautiful art, to it's present state of advancement
George Richardson Porter- Silk Manufacturing By 1800, Jacquard began inventing various devices. He invented a treadle loom in 1800, a loom to weave fishing nets in 1803, and starting in 1804, the “Jacquard” loom, which would weave patterned silk automatically. However, none of his inventions operated well and thus were unsuccessful. In 1801, Jacquard exhibited his invention at the industrial exhibition in Paris; and in 1803 he was summoned to Paris and attached to the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers. A loom by Jacques de Vaucanson on display there suggested various improvements in his own machine, which he gradually perfected to its final state. (wiki)
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"Punch cards"
Punch cards were in common use until the mid-1970s. It The use of punch cards predates computers. and were used as early as 1725 in the textile industry, for controlling mechanized textile looms. http://royal.pingdom.com/2008/04/08 Jacques Vaucanson
In 1727, when just 18 years of age, Jacques Vaucanson was given his own workshop in Lyon, and a grant from a nobleman to construct a set of machines. In 1738, he created what is considered his masterpiece- The Digesting Duck. The duck had over 400 moving parts in each wing alone, and could flap its wings, drink water, digest grain, and defecate. Vaucanson's Digesting Duck
1:41 Vaucanson was trying to automate the French textile industry with punch cards. His machine was on display at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, where Joseph Marie Jacquard saw it, then made improvements to his own loom.
A Treatise on the Origin, Progressive Improvement, and Present State of the Silk Manufacturer By George Richardson Porter 1831
https://books.google.com.au/books?id=-XkDAAA Jacquard Loom Punch Cards
By Steve.kimberley - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9980982
JUST FOR FUN!
Use this card punch emulator to create a PNG or JPEG image of a punched card. Just type in some text. http://www.kloth.net/services/cardpunch.php This portrait of Jacquard was woven in silk on a Jacquard loom and required 24,000 punched cards to create (1839). It was only produced to order. Charles Babbage owned one of these portraits; it inspired him in using perforated cards in his analytical engine. It's in the collection of the Science Museum in London, England.
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Hollerith Electric Tabulating System
Herman Hollerith
1860-1929 |
Hollerith Electric Tabulating System
The 60 million cards punched in the 1890 U.S. census were fed manually into machines like this for processing. The dials counted cards with holes in a particular position. The sorter on he right would be activated by certain hole combinations, allowing detailed statistics to be generated. An average operator could process about 7,000 cards a day, at least 10 times faster than manual methods. Herman Hollerith 1860 N.Y. -1929 Washington, D.C. Hollerith Electric Tabulating System
http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution Herman Hollerith
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Herman-Hollerith |
Replica of The Hollerith Electric Tabulating System
Other Punch Hole Systems
The Player Piano or Pianola Heavy duty paper rolls with perforations that represented the note & the duration. The player mechanism, is located in the upper part of the piano Pianolas http://parlorsongs.com/issues/200711 |
The player mechanism, is connected to the key action by push-rods, a bar with equally spaced holes that air blows through, a vacuum chamber & foot operated bellows.
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Boogie Woogie Piano Roll, (shows mechanism)
4:14 |
Player Piano Rolls- How They're Made
5:06 |
Music Boxes Work Along The Same Principle
The following, is a beautiful example of a well made Music Box.
Paillard sublime harmony music box
0:48 Listen to Short Recordings of Music Boxes & More!
http://www.mbsi.org/gallery.php |
The music box mechanism, consists of a cylinder with metal pins or prongs, positioned in the same place that that holes on a piano roll would be and are in different positions for each song. Along side of the cylinder, is a metal comb with varying lengths of teeth, the longer the tooth, the lower the note. As the cylinder turns, the pins pluck the metal teeth. The sound is very soft and the mechanism needs to be 'grounded'on a table or bench, to amplify the vibrations, that's why they built them inside of a box.
The following youtube clip explains it beautifully. If you're stumped as to the very first melody that you hear? it's- 'Who's afraid of the big bad wolf'
How a Wind Up Music Box Works
8:02 History of The Music Box
http://www.amica.org/Live/Instruments/Music_Boxes/Music_box_history.htm Farm House Museum Music Box Collection
http://umsm003.its.iastate.edu/view/objects/asimage |
The Street Organ Played By The Organ Grinder
Street Organs came in a
variety of sizes. |
In the late 19th century, pneumatic organs using punched paper rolls or punched cardboard folding books began to replace the barrels. Punched paper was cheaper to produce than pinned barrels and offered a chance to play a much greater variety of music. All the organ grinder had to do was to put on a new roll or book. Prior to this, the organs used wooden barrels with pins or nails to carry the notes. As the barrel turned, the pins opened valves allowing air into the pipes. The air was provided by a bellows pumped by the same crank that turned the barrel. The creator of a large barrel could put 6 to 8 songs on the barrel, so the organ grinder would turn the handle playing those same songs over & over again.
http://www.bendermelodies.com/org_grinder Italian Genealogy- Street Musicians
http://www.italiangenealogy.com/forum/italian A great deal of Organ grinders were Italian immigrants, trying to earn a living. They would often have a small monkey as their mascot, to attract attention. Some would teach the monkey to do tricks, to entertain the crowds and the monkey had the ability to also hold a cup in it's hand, where the donations would be dropped into.
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Charles Babbage was a particularly virulent enemy of the organ grinders. He would chase them around town, complain to authorities about their noisy presence and forever ask the police to arrest them.
The Hurdy Gurdy
The term Hurdy-Gurdy is sometimes mistakenly applied to the Street or Barrel Organ, which has pipes. where the Hurdy-Gurdy has strings.
The real Hurdy Gurdy does not have punch holes or cylinders, as the music box, the barrel organ or the piano rolls do and dates back to medieval times. It is turned by a handle to play, but has strings inside, which create an entirely different sound. It looks like a squat, pear-shaped fiddle having strings that are sounded not by a bow but by the rosined rim of a wooden wheel turned by a handle at the instrument’s end. Notes are made on the one or two melody strings by stopping them with short wooden keys pressed by the left-hand fingers. (Britannica)
Inside the Hurdy Gurdy
Listen to The Hurdy Gurdy being Played-
It sounds nothing like the tinkling of a music box, or the Organ Grinder's Music https://www.music.iastate.edu/antiqua/hurdy.htm |
Today, these small wind up music box mechanisms, are referred to as a 'Hurdy Gurdy', most likely because of the fact that they wind up.
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