Charles Babbage Quotes

The economy of human time is the next advantage of machinery in manufactures.

Telegraphs are machines for conveying information over extensive lines with great rapidity.

Errors using inadequate data are much less than those using no data at all.

At each increase of knowledge, as well as on the contrivance of every new tool, human labour becomes abridged.

What is there in a name? It is merely an empty basket, until you put something into it.

For one person who is blessed with the power of invention, many will always be found who have the capacity of applying principles.

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

An object is frequently not seen, from not knowing how to see it, rather than from any defect of the organ of vision.

The proportion between the velocity with which men or animals move, and the weights they carry, is a matter of considerable importance, particularly in military affairs.

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 difference between a tool and a machine is not capable of very precise distinction; nor is it necessary, in a popular explanation of those terms, to limit very strictly their acceptation.

The first steps in the path of discovery, and the first approximate measures, are those which add most to the existing knowledge of mankind.

I wish to God these calculations had been executed by steam.

Whenever the work is itself light, it becomes necessary, in order to economize time, to increase the velocity.

In turning from the smaller instruments in frequent use to the larger and more important machines, the economy arising from the increase of velocity becomes more striking.

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

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

The errors which arise from the absence of facts are far more numerous and more durable than those which result from unsound reasoning respecting true data.

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

That the state of knowledge in any country will exert a directive influence on the general system of instruction adopted in it, is a principle too obvious to require investigation.

Perhaps it would be better for science, that all criticism should be avowed.

Some kinds of nails, such as those used for defending the soles of coarse shoes, called hobnails, require a particular form of the head, which is made by the stroke of a die.

The fatigue produced on the muscles of the human frame does not altogether depend on the actual force employed in each effort, but partly on the frequency with which it is exerted.

That science has long been neglected and declining in England, is not an opinion originating with me, but is shared by many, and has been expressed by higher authority than mine.

Surely, if knowledge is valuable, it can never be good policy in a country far wealthier than Tuscany, to allow a genius like Mr. Dalton's, to be employed in the drudgery of elementary instruction.

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 estimating it.

A tool is usually more simple than a machine; it is generally used with the hand, whilst a machine is frequently moved by animal or steam power.

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

I have no desire to write my own biography, as long as I have strength and means to do better work.

It will be readily admitted, that a degree conferred by an university, ought to be a pledge to the public that he who holds it possesses a certain quantity of knowledge.

The quantity of meaning compressed into small space by algebraic signs, is another circumstance that facilitates the reasonings we are accustomed to carry on by their aid.

The possessors of wealth can scarcely be indifferent to processes which, nearly or remotely have been the fertile source of their possessions.

Perhaps the most important principle on which the economy of a manufacture depends, is the division of labour amongst the persons who perform the work.

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 praise each other over wine and give each other medals.

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