LEADER 02909nam 2200457 450 001 9910794878203321 005 20230421034643.0 010 $a0-19-028235-5 010 $a0-19-802508-4 035 $a(CKB)4330000000043179 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC5763689 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC2012752 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL2012752 035 $a(OCoLC)958512685 035 $a(EXLCZ)994330000000043179 100 $a20190611d1998 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcnu|||||||| 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aCharles Babbage and the engines of perfection /$fBruce Collier and James MacLachlan 210 1$aNew York ;$aOxford :$cOxford University Press,$d[1998] 210 4$dİ1998 215 $a1 online resource (123 pages) $cillustrations 225 1 $aOxford portraits in science 311 $a0-19-508997-9 330 $aCharles Babbage, the grandfather of the modern computer, did not live to see even one of his calculating machines at work. A dazzling genius with vision extending far beyond the limitations of the Victorian age, Babbage successfully calculated a table of logarithms during his years at Cambridge University, allowing mathematical calculations to be executed with extreme precision. Only the possibility of human error prevented complete accuracy, and Babbage understood that the only way to attain perfection is to leave the human mind entirely out of the equation. He devoted most of his life and spent most of his private fortune and government stipend trying to improve his difference engines and analytical engines. Bruce Collier and James MacLachlan chronicle Babbage's education and scientific career, his remarkably active social life and long string of personal tragedies, his forays into philosophy and economics, his successes and failures, and the biggest disappointment of his life-- his ingenious inventions were centuries ahead of the primitive capabilities of Victorian technology. Oxford Portraits in Science is an on-going series of scientific biographies for young adults. Written by top scholars and writers, each biography examines the personality of its subject as well as the thought process leading to his or her discoveries. These illustrated biographies combine accessible technical information with compelling personal stories to portray the scientists whose work has shaped our understanding of the natural world. 410 0$aOxford portraits in science. 606 $aMathematicians$zEngland$vBiography 615 0$aMathematicians 676 $a681.140924 700 $aCollier$b Bruce$01463585 701 $aMacLachlan$b James H.$f1928-$01463586 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910794878203321 996 $aCharles Babbage and the engines of perfection$93672942 997 $aUNINA