Charles Babbage

Engraving by Charles Babbage in Mechanics' Magazine on May 1, 1833

Model replica of the analytical engine

Difference machine No. 1 by Charles Babbage from 1832 in the Science Museum London.

Charles Babbage (born December 26, 1791 in Walworth , County Surrey , England , † October 18, 1871 in London ) was an English mathematician , philosopher , inventor and political economist . Babbage is best known for the analytical engine he developed . This is considered to be the forerunner of the modern computer . However, the real potential of the Analytical Engine was first discovered by Ada Lovelace recognized and disseminated, whose written explanations and further developments to the calculating machine contained the basis for the first programming language.

Life

Babbage in 1871 in the London Illustrated News (underlying photo 1860)

Born into two old Devonshire families , Babbage began studying at Trinity College , Cambridge, in 1810 ; The focus was on mathematics and chemistry . In 1812 he founded the Analytical Society with John Herschel , the aim of which was to reform British mathematics and spread advanced methods from mainland Europe (such as Leibniz's differential calculus ). In 1814 he graduated from Peterhouse in Cambridge . On July 2 of the same year, he married Georgiana Whitmore.

In 1815 Babbage gave a series of lectures on astronomy at the Royal Institution, on March 14, 1816 he was appointed a member of the Royal Society for his services in the field of mathematics, and in 1817 he achieved a master's degree in philosophy . On January 26, 1820, he was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . In the same year Babbage founded the Royal Astronomical Society with John Herschel and George Peacock , of which he was secretary until 1824. Sir William Herschel became the first president, and Babbage was elected vice-president on February 18, 1824. On November 18, 1823, Babagge was elected an honorary member of the Society of Art for Scotland .

By 1822 Babbage had completed a working model of a calculating machine, and with the support of the British government, work began on the difference engine no.1 in 1823 .

In 1826 Babbage published a paper in which he put the life insurance business on a statistical basis with the help of mortality tables . He recognized that mortality was dependent on social class and therefore proposed that different mortality tables be used for the lower classes than for the upper classes.

After the death of his father Benjamin Babbage (1753-1827) (which gave Charles Babbage an inheritance that guaranteed him a secure livelihood for the rest of his life) and the death of two sons and his wife within seven months, he joined one in 1827 one-year trip to Europe through the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Italy. Among other things, he climbed the crater of the then active Vesuvius , met several members of the Bonaparte family , examined the Serapis temple in Pozzuoli and visited Alexander von Humboldt in Berlin. After his return he was politically active until 1834 and supported several liberal local politicians with moderate success.

Babbage became a professor of mathematics at the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge University in 1828 (until 1839), but gave no lectures. His 1830 report, Reflections on the decline of science in England, and on some of its causes , which reflected his dissatisfaction with the state of the Royal Society , led to the establishment of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1831 .

His book On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures was published in 1832. This is an analysis of the technology and organization of industrial capitalism of its time, in which he wrote, among other things, about lowering wage costs by splitting a work process into differently demanding sub-processes, which is also known today as " Babbage Principle " is known. In the same year, a first module of the difference engine from around 2,000 out of a total of 25,000 projected parts was completed by the precision mechanic Joseph Clement. In 1832, Babbage was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

In 1833 he began work on the analytical engine at his own expense. In 1834 he founded the Statistics Society in London.

In 1842 the British government finally stopped the difference engine no.1 project , and in 1846 Babbage stopped developing the analytical engine . From 1847 he worked on detailed plans for a difference engine no.2 (until around 1849), which managed with significantly fewer components than no.1 .

In 1854, Babbage was the first to decipher a Vigenère cipher by describing how to filter the appropriate key from the ciphered text. However, he never published his method, so scientists did not become aware of his findings until after his death.

Honors

In 1824 he was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society . In 1830 he was appointed a foreign member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences . In December 1832 he was accepted as an external corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences . In 1832 Babbage was awarded the knighthood of the Guelph Order .

In recognition of his services in actuarial mathematics, he became an honorary member of the Institute of Actuaria , which was founded in the middle of the 19th century in Austria-Hungary by the Association for Economic Progress .

The asteroid (11341) Babbage and the lunar crater Babbage are named after Babbage .

Quotes

“One evening I was sitting in the offices of the Analytical Society in Cambridge, my head propped on the table in a kind of waking dream and a logarithm table open in front of me. Another member came into the room, saw me half asleep, and shouted, 'Babbage say, what are you dreaming of?' To which I replied, 'I remember that all these tables (which I pointed to the logarithms) are from a machine could be calculated '. "

Scientific work

On the economy of machinery and manufactures , 1835

With the difference engine and the analytical engine, Babbage developed two mechanical calculating machines, of which he was unable to produce a functioning copy during his lifetime, but the latter is considered to be the forerunner of the modern computer . However, his interests and activities go far beyond the pioneering work in this area.

His analysis of factory capitalism , published under the title Economy of machinery and manufactures , became an important source for Karl Marx , who received this book extensively. The Babbage Principle , which deals with labor costs, is named after Babbage .

He put the life insurance business on a mathematical basis, dealt with cryptology , the navigation of underwater vehicles and proposed a theory about the formation of glaciers. Among his many inventions in addition to the calculators includes the ophthalmoscope (ophthalmoscope), he independently of Helmholtz developed, and one at the front end of locomotive -mounted rail guards , the "cow catcher". He also recognized that the width of the annual ring of a tree is influenced by the weather and thus allows conclusions to be drawn about the climate of past times.

For the mathematician Babbage, the reason for the development of calculators was the lack of reliability of numerical tables of mathematical functions . B. were created for ship navigation and the calculation of which errors often occurred. He approached this problem with the methods of industrialization : dividing the work into individual steps ( algorithmization ) and transferring them to machines ( automation ). Through the methods of the French Gaspard de Prony , who was commissioned after the French Revolution to calculate mathematical tables in the new decimal system, he knew that intellectual and intellectual tasks such as manual activities could be effectively organized through division of labor. Babbage took aim is to make the second step and machine design , which carry out the work automatically.

His calculating machine was described by Luigi Federico Menabrea and annotated in English translation by Ada Lovelace . Both writings are considered early pioneering works on programming. Lovelace realized that the analytical engine could not only be used as a calculating machine. Their description, published under the abbreviation AAL, with extensive annotations, received recognition in scientific circles and contained the representation of an algorithm for calculating Bernoulli numbers .

Others

Charles Babbag's Difference Engine was never finished in his lifetime. It was only between 1989 and 1991 that the Difference Engine No. 2 functionally reproduced. Later, hobbyists also recreated this machine using modern, precise toy building kits such as Lego and Meccano .

British researchers also want to use Babbag's drafts to recreate the analytical engine in a ten-year project and thus check its functionality.

Babbage dealt with scientific fraud in 1830 in "Reflections on the Decline of Science in England". He summarized how research results are embellished by means of

• Trimming (leveling irregularities);
• Cooking (quoting results that fit a theory; omitting results that contradict the theory);
• Forging (inventing all research results that are fitted into common doctrines or presented with a desired goal; he differentiates falsification with the intention of long-term deception in addition to hoax ).

In 1854 he proposed an improvement in lighthouses. In order to avoid confusion with each other or with random light signals, each lighthouse should display its number by means of coded light signals (e.g. for number 243: two, four and three flashes of light, each interrupted by a short pause).

Charles Babbage bequeathed his brain to science. It is now on display in a glass next to the replica of his machines in the Science Museum in London.

Babbage had a particular passion for fire. So it could be baked in an oven at 130 ° C for a few minutes. On his trip to Europe, he also let himself down into the crater of Vesuvius to see the molten lava.

The Charles Babbage Award of the IEEE Computer Society is named in his honor.

Fonts (selection)

• On Machinery for Calculating and Printing Mathematical Tables . London, Edinburgh 1822.
• A Comparative View of the Various Institutions for the Assurance of Lives. J. Mawman et al., London 1826, ( digitized version ).
  • German edition: Charles Babbage's comparative presentation of the various life insurance companies . Landes-Industrie-Comptoir, Weimar 1830.
• Reflections on the Decline of Science in England and on some of its causes. B. Fellowes et al., London 1830, ( digitized version ).
• On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures. Charles Knight, London 1832, ( digitized version ).
  • German first edition: Ueber Maschinen- und Fabrikenwesen . Stuhrsche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1833.
  • German expanded and edited edition: The economy of the machine. Extended and edited version based on the translation by G. Friedenberg from 1833. Kulturverlag Kadmos, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-931659-11-9 .
• A Word to the Wise . R. Clay, London 1833 ( limited preview in Google Book search [accessed October 19, 2021]).
• Observations on the Temple of Serapis at Pozzuoli, near Naples; with Remarks on certain Causes which may produce Geological Cycles of great Extent. 1834
• The Ninth Bridgewater Treatise. A fragment. John Murray, London 1837, ( digitized version ).
• The Exposition of 1851; or, Views of the Industry, Science, and Government of England . Murray, London 1851.
• Passages from the Life of a Philosopher. Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green, London 1864 (autobiography; digitized ).
  • German edition: Passages from a philosopher's life. Kulturverlag Kadmos, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-931659-07-0 .
• Henry Babbage (Ed.): Babbage's calculating engines. Being a collection of papers relating to them, their history, and construction. E. and FN Spon, London 1889, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2010, ISBN 978-1-108-00096-3 ).
• Philip Morrison, Emily Morrison (Eds.): Charles Babbage and his calculating engines. Selected writings by Charles Babbage and others. Dover Publications, New York NY 1961.

literature

• Harry W. Buxton: Memoir of the life and labor of the late Charles Babbage Esq. FRS (= The Charles Babbage Institute reprint series for the history of computing. 13). MIT Press et al., Cambridge et al. 1988, ISBN 0-262-02269-9 .
• John M. Dubbey: The mathematical work of Charles Babbage. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1978, ISBN 0-521-21649-4 .
• Norman T. Gridgeman: Babbage, Charles . In: Charles Coulston Gillispie (Ed.): Dictionary of Scientific Biography . tape 1 : Pierre Abailard - LS Berg . Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1970, p. 354-356 .
• Anthony Hyman: Charles Babbage. 1791-1871. Philosopher, mathematician, computer pioneer. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-608-93095-7 .
• Kurt Jäger, Friedrich Heilbronner: Lexicon of electrical engineers. 2nd, revised and expanded edition. VDE, Berlin et al. 2010, ISBN 978-3-8007-2903-6 , p. 33.
• Denis Roegel: A reconstruction of Charles Babbage's table of logarithms (1827). 2010, ( hal.inria.fr PDF).

Web links

Commons : Charles Babbage  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikisource: Charles Babbage  - Sources and full texts

• Literature by and about Charles Babbage in the catalog of the German National Library
• John J. O'Connor, Edmund F. Robertson :  Charles Babbage. In: MacTutor History of Mathematics archive .
• Entry to Babbage; Charles (1791-1871); Mathematician in the Archives of the Royal Society , London
  • Author profile in the database zbMATH
• Charles Babbage. In: BV Bowden (Ed.) Faster Than Thought. A Symposium on Digital Computing Machines. Pitman & Sons, 1953, pp. 7-18 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  • Illustration of the difference machine. In: BV Bowden (ed.): Faster Than Thought. P. 29 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive - digits are easier to recognize).
• deutschlandfunk.de , calendar page , December 26, 2016, Mathias Schulenburg: Inventor of the first modern calculating machine
• Article by / about Babbage, Charles in the Polytechnic Journal
• Science Museum London : Charles Babbage (English)
• Garry Tree: Charles Babbage's Contributions to Statistics. (PDF) 1990, accessed on October 19, 2021 (English). 

Videos

• 300 years of mechanical intelligence. Of calculating machines and think tanks . KITopen 2019, ( doi: 10.5445 / IR / 1000118108 ). Contribution to the Science Year of Artificial Intelligence 2019. Text: Christian Vater, camera, editing & animation: Christoph Bertolo.

Individual evidence

1. ^ HNF - Charles Babbage (1791-1871). Retrieved May 20, 2021 . 
2. ↑ Ada Lovelace and the world's first computer program. Retrieved May 20, 2021 . 
3. ↑ Art. XXXII. - Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. :  The Edinburgh (New) Philosophical Journal , Volume 1820, p. 390 (online at ANNO ).
4. ^ Astronomical Society. :  The Gentleman's Magazine , year 1824, p. 220 (online at ANNO ).
5. ↑ Art. XXIV. - Proceedings of the Society of Art for Scotland. :  The Edinburgh (New) Philosophical Journal , year 1823, p. 644 (online at ANNO ).
6. ^ Law of Mortality. :  The Edinburgh (New) Philosophical Journal , Volume 1827, p. 82 (online at ANNO ).
7. ^ Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences since 1724: Babbage, Charles. Russian Academy of Sciences, accessed August 29, 2019 (Russian). 
8. ^ Rewards of Science in England. In:  The Mechanics' Magazine (and Journal of Engineering, Agricultural Machinery, Manufactures, and Shipbuilding) , March 24, 1832, p. 1124 (online at ANNO ).
9. ^ Association for Insurance Science. In:  Oesterreichisches Handels-Journal. A complete monthly survey of all areas of trade / Austrian trade journal. Weekly for finance and railways, goods trade and economics / Oesterreichisches Handels-Journal. Political-commercial weekly paper. Organ for state and national economy, especially for finance and railways, goods trade, coal and steel industry and insurance , February 23, 1868, p. 9 (online at ANNO ).
10. ↑ Christian father: 300 years of mechanical intelligence. Of calculating machines and think tanks. In: KITopen. April 5, 2019, accessed June 28, 2020 ( doi: 10.5445 / IR / 1000118108 ). 
11. ↑ Ada Lovelace and the world's first computer program. Retrieved May 20, 2021 . 
12. ↑ Ada Lovelace: the pioneer of computer technology and her successors . ISBN 978-3-7705-5986-2 .
13. ↑ meccano.us: Difference Engines
14. ^ John Markoff: It Started Digital Wheels Turning. In: The New York Times . November 7, 2011.
15. ↑ Online at Gutenberg
16. ↑ According to Babbage, one of the variants of this deception method. The general aim is to simulate a higher measurement accuracy than the existing one.
17. ^ A New System of Sea-Coast and Other Lights. In:  The Mechanics' Magazine (and Journal of Engineering, Agricultural Machinery, Manufactures, and Shipbuilding) , April 8, 1854, p. 316 (online at ANNO ).
18. ↑ Computer Pioneers - Babbage, Charles. Retrieved August 24, 2019 . 
19. ↑ Art. XIV. - On Machinery for Calculating and Printing Mathematical Tables. :  The Edinburgh (New) Philosophical Journal , year 1822, p. 731 (online at ANNO ).
20. ^ Literary advertisements. In:  Leipziger Zeitung , April 29, 1830, p. 1124 (online at ANNO ).
21. ↑ factories. :  General repertory of the latest domestic and foreign literature , year 1833, p. 36 (online at ANNO ).
22. ↑ XXXIII. Proceedings of Learned Societies. :  The London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science / The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science , Volume 1834, p. 213 (online at ANNO ).
23. ^ Notes of the Month. :  The Gentleman's Magazine , year 1851, p. 55 (online at ANNO ).