Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage may have spent his life in vain, trying to make a machine considered by most of his friends to be ridiculous. 150 years ago, Babbage drew hundreds of drawings projecting the fundamentals on which today's computers are founded. But the technology was not there to meet his dreams. He was born on
December 26, 1791, in Totnes, Devonshire, England. As a child he was always interested about the mechanics of everything and in the supernatural. He reportedly once tried to prove the existence of the devil by making a circle in his own blood on the floor and reciting the Lord's Prayer backward. In college, he formed a ghost club dedicated to verifying the existence of the supernatural.
When in Trinity College in Cambridge, Charles carried out childish pranks and rebelled because of the boredom he felt from knowing more than his instructors.
Despite this, however, he was on his way to understanding the advanced theories of mathematics and even formed an Analytical Society to present and discuss original papers on mathematics and to interest people in translating the works of several foreign mathematicians into English. His studies also led him to a critical study of logarithmic tables and was constantly reporting errors in them.
During this analysis, it occurred to him that all these tables could be calculated by machinery. He was convinced that it was possible to construct a machine that would be able to compute by successive differences and to even print out the results. (He conceived of this 50 years before type-setting machines or typewriters were invented.)
In 1814, the age of 23, Charles married 22-year-old Georgina Whitmore. Georgina would have eight children in thirteen years, of which only three sons would survive to maturity. Babbage really took no interest in raising his children.
After Georgina died at the age of 35, his mother took over the upbringing. In
1816, Babbage had his first taste of failure when his application for the professorship of mathematics at East India College in Haileybury was rejected due to political reasons, as was his application, three years later, for the chair of mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. Fortunately, his elder brother supported his family while Babbage continued his work on calculating machines. At the age of 30, Babbage was ready to announce to the Royal Astronomical
Society that he had embarked on the construction of a table-calculating machine.
His paper, "Observations on the Application of Machinery to the Computation of
Mathematical Tables" was widely acclaimed and consequently, Babbage was presented with the first gold medal awarded by the Astronomical Society.
1934: His mother died in the Salinas home. John had stayed in the home to take care of
He later left Gallipoli for good during the night of the 17th of december which was only 2 nights before the final evacuation of the Anzacs.
Henry Ford I, the founder of Ford Motor Company, was born on a farm near Dearborn, Mi in 1869. From boyhood, he had a talent for engineering, but it was not until 1890 that he commenced his engineering career as an employee of the Detroit Edison Company. Ford’s superiors at the electric company felt his hobby distracted him from his regular occupation, and despite his promotion to chief engineer, he was forced to quit in 1899.
Ray Bradbury’s “The Pedestrian” conveys a story about the terrors of the future and how man eventually will lose their personality. Leonard Mead, a simple man, walks aimlessly during the night because it is calming to him. “For thousands of miles, [Mead] had never met another person walking, not once in all that time,” but on one fateful night, a mechanical police officer sent Leonard away because of his odd behavior (Bradbury, Ray). This story shows what the future will bring to mankind. During the time of Bradbury, 1920 to 2012, technology began evolving from very simple mechanics to very complex systems that we know today. Bradbury feared that some day, technology will take over and send mankind into a state of anarchy and despair. Bradbury, influenced by society, wrote “The Pedestrian” to warn people about the danger of technology resulting in loss of personality.
Inventors make many lives more comfortable and convenient. George Edward Alcorn, Jr. was a well-known inventor, but he was a well-established scientist and businessman.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Charles Lyell Charles Lyell was a British lawyer and one of the smartest geologists known at his time. He was known as the author of the Principles of Geology, which helped popularize the theories and concepts of uniformitarianism. The Principles of Geology was the first book written by Lyell and explained the changes in the earth’s surface. He used the research and information in the book as his proof to determine that the earth was over 6,000 years old. The central argument in his book was “the present is the key to the past”, this meant that to find out what happened in the past you had to look at what was happening now.
The Life of James Baldwin James Baldwin states, “I knew I was black, of course, but I also knew I was smart. I didn't know how I would use my mind, or even if I could, but that was the only thing I had to use” (PBS 2). This quote from James Baldwin from an article by PBS sums up the challenge he had to face because he was black. Through his personal life, his work and his accomplishments, James Baldwin has been considered one of the most prestigious writers in American Literature. Growing up an African-American in the early 1900s, James Baldwin didn’t have it easy.
In 1950, his mother passed away from complications with pre-eclampsia during a pregnancy. She was twenty-seven years old. Arthur and his younger brother, Johnnie, were raised by their father, Arthur Sr., who was strict in discipline on all accounts. Arthur Sr. was a tennis player and activist. Arthur Sr. would not allow his son to play football, so Arthur Jr. turned his focus to tennis.
because of Douglas Fairbanks, and she passed her love of films to her son. "My
James Baldwin was a man who wrote an exceptional amount of essays. He enticed audiences differing in race, sexuality, ethnic background, government preference and so much more. Each piece is a circulation of emotions and a teeter-totter on where he balances personal experiences and worldly events to the way you feel. Not only did he have the ability to catch readers’ attention through writing, but he also appeared on television a few times.
the discovery of the new lands which later became known to be America. In his First
saw the future demands of the computer industry. He was able to build a personal
...he Jersey Devil with the broom until it released the dog. There were at least 100 people out so there’s no doubt that the claim is true. It is true because that’s a whole neighborhood that seen the Jersey Devil that night. The claim is true and honest.
helped create the new economy of capitalism with his book, "The Wealth of Nations", countries
Disaster leaves many people to believe supernatural things even in today’s modern world. In 1484 Pope Innocent VIII claimed that Satanists were meeting with demons just outside Germany, casting spells to