January 27, 2018 Saturday
Bedtime Story
Continuing with Menabrea - 5
We are continuing with the treatise of
Menabrea:
“Sketch of the Analytical Engine” that was
translated into French by Ada Lovelace and published along with her notes in
1842.
I hope that now that you have a picture or
rather a caricature of the analytical engine, you will be able to have a better
understanding of the different parts of it that Menabrea is talking about such
as ‘The Mill’, ‘The Store’, ‘Variable Cards’ and so on.
“There, the apparatus having been disposed
suitably for the required operation, this latter is effected, and, when
completed, the result itself is transferred to the column of Variables which
shall have been indicated.
Thus the mill is that portion of the
machine which works, and the columns of Variables constitute that where the
results are represented and arranged.
After the preceding explanations, we may
perceive that all fractional and irrational results will be represented in
decimal fractions.
Supposing each column to have forty discs,
this extension will be sufficient for all degrees of approximation generally
required.
It will now be required how the machine can
of itself, and without having recourse to the hand of man, assume the
successive dispositions suited to the operations.
The solution of this problem has been taken
from Jacquard’s apparatus, used for the manufacture of brocaded stuffs, in the
following manner:-“
To explain the concept of automation in the
analytical machine, meaning how the engine will automatically by itself handle
the necessary successive operations without bringing humans into picture Menabrea
goes into great detail of the automation mechanism that was incorporated in the
Jacquard loom.
As if Menabrea’s description was not enough,
even Lovelace devoted some effort in clarifying the concept through her notes
(Note C).
Considering the value of automation in the
analytical engine, I too had narrated in a detailed and pain staking manner not
only in the history of automation pertaining to loom and weaving, but the very
idea of automata itself.
After the general analysis of automata, I
had honed into the process of weaving and the evolution of automation in weaving
devices most notably in the city of Lyon of France.
Let us see how my writing compares with
those of Menabrea and Ada Lovelace with respect to Jacquard’s loom.
First we will study the writing of Menabrea
and follow it up with the notes of Lovelace.
“Two species of threads are usually
distinguished in woven stuffs: one is the warp or longitudinal thread, and
other the woof or transverse thread, which is conveyed by the instrument called
the shuttle, and which crosses the longitudinal thread or warp.
When a brocaded stuff is required, it is
necessary in turn to prevent certain threads from crossing the woof, and this
according to a succession which is determined by the nature of the design that
is to be reproduced.”
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.
Rendition of Analytical Engine by Sydney Padua
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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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