On two occasions I have been asked, 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able ri….

In mathematics we have long since drawn the rein, and given over a hopeless race..

As soon as an Analytical Engine exists, it will neccessarily guide the future course of science..

Of Cooking. This is an art of various forms, the object of which is to give ordinary observations the appearance and character of those of the highes….

A young man passes from our public schools to the universities, ignorant almost of the elements of every branch of useful knowledge..

The Council of the Royal Society is a collection of men who elect each other to office and then dine together at the expense of this society to prais….

Another mode of accumulating power arises from lifting a weight and then allowing it to fall..

A powerful attraction exists, therefore, to the promotion of a study and of duties of all others engrossing the time most completely, and which is le….

Miracles may be, for anything we know to the contrary, phenomena of a higher order of God's laws, superior to, and, under certain conditions, control….

Mr. Herschel... brought with him the calculations of the computers, and we commenced the tedious process of verification. After a time many discrepan….

The influence of electricity in producing decompositions, although of inestimable value as an instrument of discovery in chemical inquiries, can hard….

Scientific knowledge scarcely exists amongst the higher classes of society. The discussion in the Houses of Lords or of Commons, which arise on the o….

The public character of every public servant is legitimate subject of discussion, and his fitness or unfitness for office may be fairly canvassed by ….

You will be able to appreciate the influence of such an Engine on the future progress of science. I live in a country which is incapable of estimatin….

Unless there exist peculiar institutions for the support of such inquirers, or unless the Government directly interfere, the contriver of a thaumatro….

Long intervals frequently elapse between the discovery of new principles in science and their practical application... Those intellectual qualificati….

It is difficult to estimate the misery inflicted upon thousands of persons, and the absolute pecuniary penalty imposed upon multitudes of intellectua….

Science in England is not a profession: its cultivators are scarcely recognised even as a class. Our language itself contains no single term by which….

There are few circumstances which so strongly distinguish the philosopher, as the calmness with which he can reply to criticisms he may think undeser….

He will also find that the high and independent spirit, which usually dwells in the breast of those who are deeply versed in scientific pursuits, is ….

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 que….