Charles Babbage and His Lifetime - Essay Example

CHARLES BABBAGE Give of the Give of the or Give the of the or Give the of the Professor Give the date of submission of the paper Abstract Charles Babbage (1791-1871), considered as the founding father of computing, is well reknowned for developing the fore-runners of the modern computer. His detailed plans and construction of the Difference Engines and later the conceptualization of the more highly advanced Analytical Engines consist of pioneering work in the development of computer technology. His extensive work in other areas such as mathematics, economics and business management have made significant contributions to society, and it can be observed that all these have the common thread of problem solving, for the benefit of individuals and society. Thesis Statement: This paper proposes to discuss Charles Babbage’s contribution to the development of computer technology through his work on The Difference Engines and The Analytical Engines. His various other work towards society’s progress, as a scientist, mathematician, economist and business management planner will also be identified. Introduction Charles Babbage (1791-1871) a mathematician, scientist and economist, is well-known as the “father of computing” for his invention of the modern computer. He formulated detailed plans for mechanical Calculating Engines which included the table-making Difference Engines (1821) and the far more advanced Analytical Engines (1837) which were general purpose calculators. These machines were punch-card controlled, flexible and powerful, and contained many features such as the capability of storing data in memory, which later reappeared in the modern computer (Witzei, 2007). Babbage’s main mathematical contribution was in the calculus of functions. He converted a branch of mathematics barely considered by his predecessors into a systematic calculus, the analysis containing original strategems (Dubbey, 2004). Far ahead of his time, Babbage invented the concept of “knowledge management” a century and a half before the term was first used. His interests in business management were wide, including his belief that manufacturer’s trade marks should provide assurance of product quality. He supported the concept of a rational, just and equitable society, and profit sharing so that both the management as well as the employees would derive benefits (Witzei, 2007). This paper will discuss Charles Babbage’s contributions towards society’s progress as a computer technologist, scientist, mathematician, and in the fields of economics and management. Discussion Babbage’s work was directed towards helping society to advance and prosper, as found in his writings where he expressed his views on knowledge as the key to both personal and national prosperity. He promoted the advantages of technology such as the analytical engine which enabled calculations to be done with increasing speed and accuracy. This would enable more and better information to be available, consequently improve decision making in business, based on a rational consideration of all the facts. Babbage also believed in technology for its ability to reduce the manual workload of workers, thus making work less strenous. The enormous success of digital computers in the present day forms the basis for his fame as an ancestral figure in the history of computers. Babbage is considered to be deserving of the fame, although his practical achievements were limited, as he was the first to visualize clearly the possibilies that could be achieved by the mechanization of computational processes (Wilkes, 1992). Babbage prepared many detailed plans for calculating engines. These were of two main categories: the Difference Engines which were so called because they were designed to compute tables of numbers according to the method of finite differences, and then to automatically print the tables as they were computed; and the Analytical Engines “which were versatile programmable automatic calculators” (Hyman, 1982: 48). The Difference Engines The first Difference Engine was Babbage’s great practical engineering project, far more complex than any mechanical calculator developed earlier. The development of precision engineering that followed was the result of the advances in machine tools and machining techniques which were achieved in making the first Difference Engine. As compared to the Analytical Engines, the Difference Engines was a straightforward logical system (Hyman, 1982). With increasing knowledge from studies in political economy, statistics, operations research, and innumerable commercial and industrial problems, Babbage was constantly considering new applications for his engines. He began to open up certain perspectives which have been developed and are now used in modern computing. Babbage was a person of great and varied learning, a polymath, and he pursued his ideas with great vigour at all the several different levels, sometimes independently of each other, but integrating different levels together where appropriate. His first Difference Engine was intended for making tables, although it could also be used for other purposes such as solving equations. Babbage envisioned its use in calculating mathematical tables of many classes, but he focused on the production of tables for navigation. This was because at that time, navigational tables contained several errors which frequently caused ship-wrecks. To justify the cause of production, it was necessary to save only a few vessels from destruction. Britain being a leading seafaring country, the case for constructing a Difference Engine was very strong (Hyman, 1982). Babbage stated that the genesis of his idea for constructing the Difference Machine arose from the fact many discrepancies were noticed in the results calculated by two computers when preparing tables for the Astronomical Society, which prompted him to consider using steam for preparing the calculations. At the same time, he considered the possibility of all the tables in the logarithms being calculated by machinerey. Thus, from making tables for the Astronomical Society, Babbage felt compelled to start designing calculating engines. Babbage considered the making of numerical tables, “whether of logarithms, trigonometric, or other mathematical functions” (Hyman, 1982: 50), to be just the sort of operation to which machinery could be successfully applied. He believed that machinery is always the best option when great accuracy is required and particularly when the same process is repeated in succession, endlessly. Accomplishing calculations by steam was his goal, and this resulted in Babbage sketching the outlines of a design of machinery that could compute tables by the method of finite differences, and to print directly the tables computed. This formulation was a significant step forward. The Analytical Engines The transition from Difference Engine to Analytical Engine was considered for the purpose of constructing tables which had no order of differences constant. Had the Analytical Engine been built, it would have been a true general purpose computer. In developing this machine, Babbage showed “vision and insight verging on genius” (Wilkes, 1992: 16). The detailed plans and information about the mechanical contrivances that Babbage conceived for its implementation remained in his manuscripts. These were found to be rich in knowledge and details about the design and mechanisms. In 1834, Babbage started working on the mechanical design of the Analytical Engine, on which he continued for the rest of his life, with some intervals of time. Even in his later years, strove for greater simplicity and increased efficiency. The Analytical Engines which were complex logical systems, formed the precursors of the modern digital computer, and are of the greatest interest to the history of science. Similar to a computer, an Analytical Engine is an abstract system. However, in practical computers, the abstract system is designed in such a way, that it can be reproduced in physical form, and the abstract structure adapts itself to the constructional technology in which it is designed to be made. The uniqueness of Babbage’s work made it necessary for him to work on the calculating engines at several different levels: “the abstract, logical structure, the devices designed to effect each part of the engines, manufacturing methods for constructing components for the engines, mathematical methods for preparing problems for calculation; and both programming and microprogramming” (Hyman, 1982: 48). Babbage formulated a system of punched cards like punched paper tapes, strung together as found in an automatic loom, to control his machine. He devised the concept of loops in the program, and recognized that a set of cards for his engine would constitute a representation of an algorithm. For lower-level control, Babbage created a system very similar to modern microprogramming with rotating barrels carrying projecting studs, taking the place of “read only” memory. The studs controlled the action of the various parts of the machine, and could also cause the barrel to move forward or backward by any desired length. Babbage prepared notations for the execution of a large number of algorithms, and many of these are found to still exist. They resemble modern microprograms, which indicates Babbage’s thorough understanding of the art of microprogramming. Rediscovered in the middle of the twentieth century, the Analytical Engines are among the great intellectual achievements of humankind. The extent of Babbage’s genius came to light, and was fully appreciated only with the functioning of the first digital computers (Wilkes, 1992). Mathematics Babbage’s researches into pure mathematics which began in 1813 continued at an extremely productive rate producing three books, two unpublished books, three papers of considerable length, fourteen other papers, two long encyclopaedia articles, the work coming to an abrupt end in 1821. While working hard on the construction of his engines, he also published a lot of his writing on “magnetism, astronomy, life assurance, geology, biology, economics, religion, politics, ciphering, submarines, opthalmoscopes and machinery” (Dubbey, 2004: 221). Despite his highly creative mathematical talent, Babbage virtually retired from the subject at the age of thirty, having become well-renowned in the field. Babbage developed the calculus of functions from the solution of a few isolated problems into a systematic branch of mathematics solving a variety of very complicated examples and introducing ingenious methods to develop the technique. He saw far more in the solution of functional equations than had ever been suspected by other famous mathematicians. In the unpublished work The Philosophy of Analysis at least two major original ideas have been found. The first relates to a new approach to Algebra with a potential to liberate the subject from a continued arithmetical interpretation and the precursor of the more modern formulations of the 1840s. The second concerns a remarkable evaluation of the successive values of a random variable indicating a type of stochastic process, in the attempt to discover a mathematical interpretation of the intuitive logic required for playing noughts and crosses (Dubbey, 2004). Further, Babbage wrote several papers on his ideas on the importance of notation. He developed original ideas for treating notation itself by systematic logical rules, and thus increasing both the generality and simplicity of mathematical reasoning. He also wrote on other branches of mathematics such as “geometry, probability, the theory of numbers, finite and infinite series and products” (Dubbey, 2004: 221). Babbage only saw a large number of problems to be solved by any means. He tackled problems often taken from areas unfamiliar to the mainstream of mathematics and attempted to solve them by his own devices, thus unknowingly creating a new subject. Some of his methods were not explored again for over a hundred years, which shows that his mind was very far ahead of the time, and aligned with middle twentieth century thinking. Though his influence on his contemporaries was almost negligible, Babbage’s impact on mathematics was by reform, organization and suggestion (Dubbey, 2004). Economics and Business Management Charles Babbage was an advocate of the systematic use of science in industry. Babbage’s book The Economy of Manufactures and other writings on manufacturing, along with the growth of industry underlined the significance of the development of factories. “In Britain, Babbage’s plea for the general application of science and technology to industry, for the union of theory and practice, was systematically ignored resulting in disastrous consequences for the nation’s industry” (Hyman, 1982: 48). He also published widely on social reform and explained theoretical and practical science and its applications. Babbage made thorough analyses of the pin-making industry, and the printing trade. He analysed the economics of the post office, as a result of which the penny post was introduced. He took an interest in improving the quality of products by ensuring manufacturers’ responsibility through the use of their labels to denote quality assurance. He published the first comprehensive treatise on actuarial theory and the first reliable life tables. He invented the heliograph and the ophthalmoscope, and developed the concept of lighthouse signalling. He developed the principles of the taxation sytem with reference to property tax. His innumerable other achievements are also attributed to his inspiration from a mind that was essentially mathematical. With increasing maturity, he attempted to bring this quality into the solution of non-mathematical problems. Babbage’s work On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures developed out of his studies on industry, while he simultaneously worked on the Difference Engine. His economic theories encompassed division of labour, equality of employees and the importance of profit-sharing, of decreasing the cost of production and the various dimensions of ethical and profitable business management (Babbage & Hyman, 1989). Conclusion This paper has highlighted the mathematician, computer technologist, economist and business management leader embodied in the person of Charles Babbage. His major contributions to society in all the above fields have been discussed, with special emphasis on his significant work on the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine as the original founder of computing and the modern computer. Babbage believed in the importance of applying science and technology to industry. His extensive work in several disciplines is attributed basically to his highly advanced mathematical background, and his philosophy which underscored the importance of contributing to the benefit of society at large. His aim was to solve as many problems as possible for humanity, as a social reformer and worker for society’s progress and prosperity. References Babbage, C. & Hyman, A. 1989. Science and reform: selected works of Charles Babbage. New York: Cambridge University Press. Dubbey, J.M. 2004. The mathematical work of Charles Babbage. New York: Cambridge University Press. Hyman, A. 1982. Charles Babbage: pioneer of the computer. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Wilkes, M.V. 1992. Charles Babbage: the great uncle of computing? Communications of the ACM ( Association of Computing Machinery), 35(3): 15-17. Witzei, M. 2007. History Lesson. Charles Babbage: the man who saw the future. European Business Forum, Issue 29, Summer 2007: 50-54. Read More