num_pages: 415
description: The first attempts to mechanize the production of numerical tables were remarkable inconception coming at a time when a "computer" was in fact a person rather than a machine. This bookis the first to provide a unified picture of the difference engines that were the mechanicalpredecessors of today's digital computer, to emphasize them as part of the history of numericaltables, and to give equal weight to the technical and social aspects of their creation.Lindgrenanalyzes the difference engines of Müller and Babbage and the mathematical principles on which theyare based, tells the story of how Georg and Edvard Scheutz learned about Babbage's engine, discussesthe design and operation of the Scheutzs' machine, and tells why Babbage failed technically and theScheutzes failed commercially. The often detailed technical descriptions bring to light theinventors' own ways of thinking as work on the engines progressedMichael Lindgren is Curator at theNational Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm.
language: English
title: Glory and Failure: The Difference Engines of Johann Müller, Charles Babbage, and Georg and Edvard Sheutz
titlecomplete: Glory and Failure: The Difference Engines of Johann Müller, Charles Babbage, and Georg and Edvard Sheutz (History of Computing)
genres: Computer Science, History, Technology
ratings_count: 4
publisher: Mit Pr