tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2129929182918599848.post8101658150933946743..comments2024-02-06T17:02:25.684-05:00Comments on Field notes on the Web: Steampunk heavenDavid Hullhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07602323703256325141noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2129929182918599848.post-5271638957631477642010-04-30T02:03:26.293-04:002010-04-30T02:03:26.293-04:00That's my understanding, as well. Lots of int...That's my understanding, as well. Lots of interesting but largely forgotten math in that. Functional square roots, for example.<br /><br />The interesting thing about the difference engine, to modern eyes at least, was that it was <i>digital</i>, very explicitly so. For example, there is a sharp-edged bar that slots in at certain key points to make sure that the number wheels are exactly in one of their ten allowed positions. <br /><br />Babbage's analytical engine, unfortunately not quite fully-baked enough to build, went even further, anticipating a fair bit of Turing, Von Neumann and company's work.<br /><br />The intriguing question here is what would have happened had Babbage's digital designs succeeded? Instead, there followed a long period of analog dominance. Digital processing wasn't dead -- I'm pretty sure punch cards have a pretty continuous history from the Jacquard loom up to the 60s and 70s, for examle -- but it wasn't the dominant force it is today.David Hullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07602323703256325141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2129929182918599848.post-59370075767603074972010-04-29T09:20:57.810-04:002010-04-29T09:20:57.810-04:00During WWII the navy used mechanical analog comput...During WWII the navy used mechanical analog computers to control guns. Multiplication and division were handled with differentials (in the mechanical, not the mathematical sense), and more complex operations were done with specially ground cams, or so they told me.earlnoreply@blogger.com