Charles BabbageOn 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… ▶351LifeLoveThought
Charles BabbageIt is difficult to estimate the misery inflicted upon thousands of persons, and the absolute pecuniary penalty imposed upon multitudes of intellectual workers by the loss of their… ▶373LifeTime
Charles BabbageThe 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… ▶341HumanityTruth
Charles BabbageSurely, 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 eleme… ▶341Reflection
Charles BabbageA 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 … ▶341PoliticsReflectionTime
Charles BabbageScientific knowledge scarcely exists amongst the higher classes of society. The discussion in the Houses of Lords or of Commons, which arise on the occurrence of any subjects conn… ▶333HumanityTruth
Charles BabbageScience in England is not a profession: its cultivators are scarcely recognised even as a class. Our language itself contains no single term by which their occupation can be expre… ▶312HumanityPolitics
Charles BabbageThe 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 f… ▶346HopeTime
Charles BabbageThe 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. ✨ C… ▶303ReflectionTruth
Charles BabbageSome 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. 358DeathTruth
Charles BabbageTelegraphs are machines for conveying information over extensive lines with great rapidity. ✨ Charles Babbage (1841). On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, p.36358Truth
Charles BabbageThe public character of every public servant is legitimate subject of discussion, and his fitness or unfitness for office may be fairly canvassed by any person. ✨ Charles Ba… ▶304Reflection
Charles BabbageIn mathematics we have long since drawn the rein, and given over a hopeless race. ✨ Charles Babbage (1830). Reflections on the Decline of Science in England: And on Some of … ▶304HopeReflection
Charles BabbageMr. Herschel... brought with him the calculations of the computers, and we commenced the tedious process of verification. After a time many discrepancies occurred, and at one poin… ▶315LifeTime
Charles BabbageWhenever the work is itself light, it becomes necessary, in order to economize time, to increase the velocity. ✨ Charles Babbage (1832). On the Economy of Machinery and Manu… ▶3510TimeTruth
Charles BabbageThat science has long been neglected and declining in England, is not an opinion originating with me, but is shared by many, and has been expressed by higher authority than mine. … ▶3510Reflection
Charles BabbageI have no desire to write my own biography, as long as I have strength and means to do better work. ✨ Charles Babbage (2013). On the Principles and Development of the Calcul… ▶349Humanity
Charles BabbageAnother mode of accumulating power arises from lifting a weight and then allowing it to fall. ✨ Charles Babbage (1827). An Essay on General Principles which regulate the App… ▶305PoliticsTruth
Charles BabbageMechanical 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 demonstr… ▶252HumanityLifeThought
Charles BabbageYou will be able to appreciate the influence of such an Engine on the future progress of science. I live in a country which is incapable of estimating it. ✨ Charles Babbage:… ▶285HopeReadingTime
Charles BabbageThe first steps in the path of discovery, and the first approximate measures, are those which add most to the existing knowledge of mankind. ✨ Charles Babbage, Anthony Hyman… ▶242Humanity
Charles BabbageRemember that accumulated knowledge, like accumulated capital, increases at compound interest: but it differs from the accumulation of capital in this; that the increase of knowle… ▶276Politics
Charles BabbageThere is, however, another purpose to which academies contribute. When they consist of a limited number of persons, eminent for their knowledge, it becomes an object of ambition t… ▶232Reflection
Charles BabbageIn 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. ✨… ▶221Truth
Charles BabbageI wish to God these calculations had been executed by steam. ✨ Charles Babbage (2013). On the Principles and Development of the Calculator and Other Seminal Writings, p.14, … ▶243Death
Charles BabbageAt each increase of knowledge, as well as on the contrivance of every new tool, human labour becomes abridged. ✨ Charles Babbage (1832). On the Economy of Machinery and Manu… ▶233HumanityTruth
Charles BabbageThe economy of human time is the next advantage of machinery in manufactures. ✨ Charles Babbage (1841). On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, p.8256HumanityTimeTruth
Charles BabbageI 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 i… ▶201HopeTruth
Charles BabbageTo those who have chosen the profession of medicine, a knowledge of chemistry, and of some branches of natural history, and, indeed, of several other departments of science, affor… ▶202Reflection
Charles BabbageThere are few circumstances which so strongly distinguish the philosopher, as the calmness with which he can reply to criticisms he may think undeservedly severe. ✨ Charles … ▶246ReflectionThought
