24 Nov
1997
24 Nov
'97
4:07 a.m.
Ward Griffiths Wrote:
Another fun project would be that nowawadays with modern materials and
computer controlled machining, it is now possible to make parts to the
tolerances necessary to build a functional Analytical Engine. Anybody
know where I can get a good copy of Babbage's designs?
--
Ward Griffiths
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails
of the last priest." [Denis Diderot, "Dithyrambe sur la fete de rois"]
It's been done. I read an article in the Scientific American a few
years back, where some guys from the British Museum, I think, built
the Analytical Engine according to Babbages design.
They corrected a couple of minor design flaws (some speculate that
Babbage put them there on purpose to discourage Industrial
Espionage), and fabricated the whole thing from several tons of
Iron, brass, and bronze parts.
They didn't have funding to build the whole machine (the printer
alone is an engineering marvel), but the machine worked! They
succeeded where Babbage had failed.
If you arer REALLY interested, I'll try to dredge up the article for
you.
Jeff Kaneko