Frases de Charles Babbage

Original: «Propose to an Englishman any principle, or any instrument, however admirable, and you will observe that the whole effort of the English mind is directed to find a difficulty, a defect, or an impossibility in it. If you speak to him of a machine for peeling a potato, he will pronounce it impossible: if you peel a potato with it before his eyes, he will declare it useless, because it will not slice a pineapple».
Fuente: Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Oxford Paperback Reference. Editora Susan Ratcliffe. Editorial OUP Oxford, 2011. ISBN 9780199567072. p. 22. https://books.google.es/books?id=KRiFmlT2cdIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=OUP+Oxford,+2011+ISBN%090199567077,+9780199567072&hl=es&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi6vODuoNfgAhXlsnEKHdl7BoEQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=Propose%20to%20an%20Englishman%20any%20principle%2C%20or%20any%20instrument%2C%20however%20admirable%2C%20and%20you%20will%20observe%20that%20the%20whole%20effort%20of%20the%20English&f=false

Original: «The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform. It can follow analysis; but it has no power of anticipating any analytical relations or truths. Its province is to assist us to making available what we are already acquainted with».
Fuente: On the Principles and Development of the Calculator and Other Seminal Writings. Charles Babbage. Editores Philip Morrision, Emily Morrison. Editorial Courier Corporation, 2013. ISBN 9780486320526. Página 284. https://books.google.es/books?id=FTXyAAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Courier+Corporation,+2013+ISBN%090486320529,+9780486320526&hl=es&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwij3cfEmdfgAhWCSxUIHf94A6MQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Analytical%20Engine%20has%20no%20pretensions%20whatever%20to%20originate%20anything&f=false

original: «Scientific knowledge scarcely exists amongst the higher classes of society. The discussion in the Houses of Lords or of Commons, which arise on the occurrence of any subjects connected with science, sufficiently prove this fact».
Fuente: Science and Reform: Selected Works of Charles Babbage. Charles Babbage. Editor y colaborador Anthony Hyman. Edición ilustrada. Editorial Cambridge University Press, 1989. ISBN 9780521343114. Página 118. https://books.google.es/books?id=0gZ7Bo2NnzAC&pg=PA118&dq=Scientific+knowledge+scarcely+exists+amongst+the+higher+classes+of+society.+The+discussion+in+the+Houses+of+Lords+or+of+Commons,+which+arise+on+the+occurrence+of+any+subjects+connected+with+science,+sufficiently+prove+this+fact&hl=es&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi71KznntfgAhVH3RoKHTV9AZAQ6AEIMTAB#v=onepage&q=Scientific%20knowledge%20scarcely%20exists%20amongst%20the%20higher%20classes%20of%20society.%20The%20discussion%20in%20the%20Houses%20of%20Lords%20or%20of%20Commons%2C%20which%20arise%20on%20the%20occurrence%20of%20any%20subjects%20connected%20with%20science%2C%20sufficiently%20prove%20this%20fact&f=false

Original: «Whenever a man can get hold of numbers, they are invaluable: if correct, they assist in informing his own mind, but they are still more useful in deluding the minds of others. Numbers are the masters of the weak, but the slaves of the strong».
Fuente: Passages from the Life of a Philosopher. Charles Babbage. Editorial Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1864. Página 410. https://books.google.es/books?id=nrZcAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA410&dq=Whenever+a+man+can+get+hold+of+numbers,+they+are+invaluable:+if+correct,+they+assist+in+informing+his+own+mind,+but+they+are+still+more+useful+in+deluding+the+minds+of+others.+Numbers+are+the+masters+of+the+weak,+but+the+slaves+of+the+strong.+Charles+Babbage&hl=es&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi2kZLEnNfgAhVpyoUKHfj4BpUQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=Whenever%20a%20man%20can%20get%20hold%20of%20numbers%2C%20they%20are%20invaluable%3A%20if%20correct%2C%20they%20assist%20in%20informing%20his%20own%20mind%2C%20but%20they%20are%20still%20more%20useful%20in%20deluding%20the%20minds%20of%20others.%20Numbers%20are%20the%20masters%20of%20the%20weak%2C%20but%20the%20slaves%20of%20the%20strong.%20Charles%20Babbage&f=false

"Passages from the life of a philosopher", Appendix: Miracle. Note (A)
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)
Contexto: It has always occurred to my mind that many difficulties touching Miracles might be reconciled, if men would only take the trouble to agree upon the nature of the phenomenon which they call Miracle. That writers do not always mean the same thing when treating of miracles is perfectly clear; because what may appear a miracle to the unlearned is to the better instructed only an effect produced by some unknown law hitherto unobserved. So that the idea of miracle is in some respect dependent upon the opinion of man. Much of this confusion has arisen from the definition of Miracle given in Hume's celebrated Essay, namely, that it is the "violation of a law of nature." Now a miracle is not necessarily a violation of any law of nature, and it involves no physical absurdity. As Brown well observes, "the laws of nature surely are not violated when a new antecedent is followed by a new consequent; they are violated only when the antecedent, being exactly the same, a different consequent is the result;" so that a miracle has nothing in its nature inconsistent with our belief of the uniformity of nature. All that we see in a miracle is an effect which is new to our observation, and whose cause is concealed. The cause may be beyond the sphere of our observation, and would be thus beyond the familiar sphere of nature; but this does not make the event a violation of any law of nature. The limits of man's observation lie within very narrow boundaries, and it would be arrogance to suppose that the reach of man's power is to form the limits of the natural world. The universe offers daily proof of the existence of power of which we know nothing, but whose mighty agency nevertheless manifestly appears in the most familiar works of creation. And shall we deny the existence of this mighty energy simply because it manifests itself in delegated and feeble subordination to God's omnipotence?

p. 21 http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1216/1216-h/1216-h.htm
Reflections on the Decline of Science in England, and on Some of its Causes (1830)
Contexto: If we look at the fact, we shall find that the great inventions of the age are not, with us at least, always produced in universities. The doctrines of "definite proportions," and of the "chemical agency of electricity,"—principles of a high order, which have immortalized the names of their discoverers,—were not produced by the meditations of the cloister: nor is it in the least a reproach to those valuable institutions to mention truths like these. Fortunate circumstances must concur, even to the greatest, to render them eminently successful. It is not permitted to all to be born, like Archimedes, when a science was to be created; nor, like Newton, to find the system of the world "without form and void;" and, by disclosing gravitation, to shed throughout that system the same irresistible radiance as that with which the Almighty Creator had illumined its material substance. It can happen to but few philosophers, and but at distant intervals, to snatch a science, like Dalton, from the chaos of indefinite combination, and binding it in the chains of number, to exalt it to rank amongst the exact. Triumphs like these are necessarily "few and far between;", nor can it be expected that that portion of encouragement, which a country may think fir to bestow on science, should be adapted to meet such instances. Too extraordinary to be frequent, they must be left, if they are to be encouraged at all, to some direct interference of the governemeɳt.
The dangers to be apprehended from such a specific interference, would arise from one, or several of the following circumstance:—That class of society, from whom the government is selected, might not possess sufficient knowledge either to judge themselves, or know upon whose judgment to rely. Or the number of persons devoting themselves to science, might not be sufficiently large to have due weight in the expression of public opinion. Or, supposing this class to be large, it might not enjoy, in the estimation of the world, a sufficiently high character for independence. Should these causes concur in any country, it might become highly injurious to commit the encouragement of science to any department of the government. This reasoning does not appear to have escaped the penetration of those who advised the abolition of the late Board of Longitude.
The question whether it is good policy in the government of a country to encourage science, is one of which those who cultivate it are not perhaps the most unbiased judges. In England, those who have hitherto pursued science, have in general no very reasonable grounds of complaint; they knew, or should have known, that there was no demand for it, that it led to little honour, and to less profit.
That blame has been attributed to the government for not fostering the science of the country is certain; and, as far as regards past administrations, is, to a great extent, just; with respect to the present ministers, whose strength essentially depends on public opinion, it is not necessary that they should precede, and they cannot remain long insensible to any expression of the general feeling. But supposing science were thought of some importance by any administration, it would be difficult in the present state of things to do much in its favour; because, on the one hand, the higher classes in general have not a profound knowledge of science, and, on the other, those persons whom they have usually consulted, seem not to have given such advice as to deserve the confidence of government. It seems to be forgotten, that the money allotted by government to purposes of science ought to be expended with the same regard to prudence and economy as in the disposal of money in the affairs of private life.

Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864), ch. 8 "Of the Analytical Engine"
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)
Contexto: As soon as an Analytical Engine exists, it will necessarily guide the future course of the science. Whenever any result is sought by its aid, the question will then arise — by what course of calculation can these results be arrived at by the machine in the shortest time?

Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864), ch. 8 "Of the Analytical Engine"
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)

Fuente: On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, 1832/1841, p. 191; Ch. 20. "On the division of mental labour"

Fuente: The Exposition of 1851: Views Of The Industry, The Science, and the Government Of England, 1851, p. xii-xiii; Cited in: Samuel Smiles Industrial biography; iron-workers and tool-makers http://books.google.com/books?id=5trBcaXuazgC&pg=PA104, (1864) p. 104

"Passages from the life of a philosopher", The Belief In The Creator From His Works, p. 402
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)
Contexto: In the works of the Creator ever open to our examination, we possess a firm basis on which to raise the superstructure of an enlightened creed. The more man inquires into the laws which regulate the material universe, the more he is convinced that all its varied forms arise from the action of a few simple principles. These principles themselves converge, with accelerating force, towards some still more comprehensive law to which all matter seems to be submitted. Simple as that law may possibly be, it must be remembered that it is only one amongst an infinite number of simple laws: that each of these laws has consequences at least as extensive as the existing one, and therefore that the Creator who selected the present law must have foreseen the consequences of all other laws. The works of the Creator, ever present to our senses, give a living and perpetual testimony of his power and goodness far surpassing any evidence transmitted through human testimony. The testimony of man becomes fainter at every stage of transmission, whilst each new inquiry into the works of the Almighty gives to us more exalted views of his wisdom, his goodness, and his power.

" Passages from the life of a philosopher https://archive.org/stream/passagesfromlif01babbgoog#page/n10/mode/2up", The Belief In The Creator From His Works, p. 400-401
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)
Contexto: There remains a third source from which we arrive at the knowledge of the existence of a supreme Creator, namely, from an examination of his works. Unlike transmitted testimony, which is weakened at every stage, this evidence derives confirmation from the progress of the individual as well as from the advancement of the knowledge of the race.
Almost all thinking men who have studied the laws which govern the animate and the inanimate world around us, agree that the belief in the existence of one Supreme Creator, possessed of infinite wisdom and power, is open to far less difficulties than the supposition of the absence of any cause, or of the existence of a plurality of causes.

"Passages from the life of a philosopher", The Belief In The Creator From His Works, p. 402
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)
Contexto: In the works of the Creator ever open to our examination, we possess a firm basis on which to raise the superstructure of an enlightened creed. The more man inquires into the laws which regulate the material universe, the more he is convinced that all its varied forms arise from the action of a few simple principles. These principles themselves converge, with accelerating force, towards some still more comprehensive law to which all matter seems to be submitted. Simple as that law may possibly be, it must be remembered that it is only one amongst an infinite number of simple laws: that each of these laws has consequences at least as extensive as the existing one, and therefore that the Creator who selected the present law must have foreseen the consequences of all other laws. The works of the Creator, ever present to our senses, give a living and perpetual testimony of his power and goodness far surpassing any evidence transmitted through human testimony. The testimony of man becomes fainter at every stage of transmission, whilst each new inquiry into the works of the Almighty gives to us more exalted views of his wisdom, his goodness, and his power.

"Passages from the life of a philosopher", Appendix: Miracle. Note (A), p. 88
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)

Quoted in William Kenneth Richmond (1969), The Education Industry.
May be modern paraphrase of "the errors which arise from the absence of facts" quote above.
Attributed

Fuente: On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, 1832/1841, p. 170. Ch 19. "On the division of labour"

Fuente: The Exposition of 1851: Views Of The Industry, The Science, and the Government Of England, 1851, p. 49-50

Quoted in Richard H. Babbage (1948), "The Work of Charles Babbage", 'Annals of the Computation Laboratory of Harvard University, vol. 16
Excerpt listed online, here: http://www.ed-thelen.org/bab/bab_philosopher.html
Attributed

Fuente: On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, 1832/1841, p. 175-6

"Passages from the life of a philosopher", Appendix, p. 490
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)

Babbage in November 1839, recalling events in 1821; quoted in Harry Wilmot Buxton and Anthony Hyman (1988), Memoir of the Life and Labours of the Late Charles Babbage. "Computers" here refers to people calculating by hand.

Fuente: The Exposition of 1851: Views Of The Industry, The Science, and the Government Of England, 1851, p. 52-53

Fuente: On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, 1832/1841, p. 156. Ch. 17 "Of Price as Measured by Money"

"Passages from the life of a philosopher", Appendix, p. 489
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)

Fuente: The Exposition of 1851: Views Of The Industry, The Science, and the Government Of England, 1851, p. v-vi: Preface

Fuente: The Exposition of 1851: Views Of The Industry, The Science, and the Government Of England, 1851, p. 225

Fuente: On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, 1832/1841, p. 270; Ch. 28 "Proper circumstances for the application of machinery."

Preface
On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, 1832/1841

"Passages from the life of a philosopher", Appendix: Religion, Note (B) pp. 491-492
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)

Fuente: The Exposition of 1851: Views Of The Industry, The Science, and the Government Of England, 1851, p. 225

"Passages from the life of a philosopher", The Athanasian Creed , p. 403
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)

New Scientist, 4 December 1958, pg.1428.
Comment in response to Alfred Tennyson’s poem Vision of Sin, which included the line Every moment dies a man, // every moment one is born.

"Passages from the life of a philosopher", Appendix, p. 488
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)