Re: The joy of Ada

On 27/09/2024 07:52, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:

[...] Imagine
that Charles Babbage hadn’t completely failed at building his Analytical
Engine. (Only it was called the “Difference Engine”, for some inexplicable
reason.)

The Difference Engine was a completely different project.  It was
called the Difference Engine because it was meant to calculate differences*,
which were the principal tools in numerical mathematics for the calculation
of values of functions [sine, cosine, sqrt, log, ...].  In the days before
computers, tables of such values were an essential part of the engineer's
[or physicist's or statistician's] toolkit and was what mathematicians often
spent their entire careers providing and checking.  It was tedious work, so
was ripe for automation.
Babbage is remembered today for little more than these projects, but
he did much more than that.  His Wiki article is worth reading, if only to
learn the breadth of his interests and contributions.
____
   * Of course ...!
--
Andy Walker, Nottingham.
    Andy's music pages: www.cuboid.me.uk/andy/Music
    Composer of the day: www.cuboid.me.uk/andy/Music/Composers/Ganz