December 14, 2017 Thursday
Bedtime Story
Inspired by Failings
It is said that it was while working on the
difference engine and it’s up gradation that an idea came to Babbage’s mind
that a more general kind of machine could be constructed.
You would recall that the difference engine
worked on a very specific mathematical principle of finite differences and was
good only at solving polynomials and even that too approximately and not
accurately as errors tended to pile onto the later solutions.
This is because if you remember the initial
values were based on the coefficients of the polynomials.
Furthermore, it’s essential utility value
was solely in the envisaged mass production of trigonometric and logarithmic
tables which at time was very useful as a navigating tool for the Royal Navy in
meeting its mercantile and imperialistic target.
In the history of computing, to some
difference engine is the first computer, but many disagree and consider the
analytical engine to be the forefather of all computers.
One of the primary objections with the
difference engine is that it is not a general purpose machine.
Besides being capable of solving only very
specific kind of mathematical problems using very predetermined technique, it
is not a programmable machine in the true sense as we see it today.
The only thing that is closest to
programming in the machine are the initial numerical constants of polynomial
differences that had to be first calculated mentally and then adjusted manually
in those vertical columns.
In short, the programming was purely manual
and mechanical and all that that can be said of the memory was the physical
state of wheels in those vertical columns.
Most of all, it was not Turing complete.
Now what do I mean by that?
Well, if I were to explain that you now I
would be racing ahead of the story.
So for now just keep in mind this term and
we will discuss it when the right time comes.
The difference engine has all sorts of
short comings that we from today’s perspective can comfortably point out.
Babbage saw these flaws and failings even
then and his mind was soon churning a devise that would be more general.
Of course, that machine would have more
complicated clogs and wheels and levers and dials and would be far more
expensive than 17,000 British pounds, but so what?
Babbage lived in the heart of British
Empire and perhaps that lent wings to his fanciful ideas to take flight.
Inadvertently he knew that the money was
there; it simply had to be either fleeced or coaxed out, though the only
problem was the Babbage was not too good at it for it seems certain that he had
a streak of misanthropy in him that he found hard to conceal.
Stay tuned to the voice of an average story storytelling
chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night mon ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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