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[Economics] Babbage, Charles (1791-1871) On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures.
London: Charles Knight, 1732.
First edition, octavo, regular paper issue; engraved title with profile portrait of Roger Bacon (dampstain to lower margin); bound in full original publisher's moiré-textured brown cloth boards, rebacked, 6 3/4 x 4 1/4 in.
Babbage, with his invention of the Difference Engine, a mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial functions, is considered the father of modern computing. Babbage's Engine would be operated by turning a crank, which would turn a series of geared brass number wheels whose increments are dictated by the metric system, thus performing a series of calculations. One full turn of the handle accomplishes one sequence of operations. The principle at work is that of Newton's method of divided differences. Babbage did not create a working version during his lifetime, but it was successfully constructed with minor alterations by scientists in 1991. The science fiction steampunk genre also owes a debt to Babbage. Had his machine caught on in the early 19th century, one may imagine the Victorians fitted out with a panoply of sophisticated high tech gear and inventions.
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