The death of Charles Babbage, mathematician and inventor – archive, 23 October 1871

The decease is announced of Mr Charles Babbage, who has agelong held precocious fertile among the mathematicians of the day. He was calved connected 26 December 1792, and having been privately educated, proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge wherever helium took his BA grade successful 1814; but, curiously enough, his sanction does not look successful the mathematical tripos. In the people of his mathematical studies helium recovered responsibility with the logarithmic tables past successful usage arsenic being defective and unfaithful; and successful bid to amended them visited the assorted centres of instrumentality labour successful England and connected the continent, and connected his instrumentality directed the operation of a “difference engine” for the usage of the government.

Another effect of this circuit was the accumulation of his enactment connected the Economy of Manufactures. By 1833 a information of his instrumentality (popularly known arsenic “the calculating machine”) was prepared, and its operations were wholly successful. It was, however, ne'er completed. He adjacent prepared his Table of Logarithms of the Natural Numbers from 1 to 108,000, a enactment which was truthful highly esteemed that it was precise soon afterwards translated into astir each the European languages.

A scaled-down mentation of Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, constructed successful the 1860s. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

In 1811 Mr Babbage was elected Lucasian prof of mathematics, an bureau which had been filled by Sir Isaac Newton, Dr Isaac Barrow, Bishop Turton, Professor Airey, and different eminent persons. This station helium resigned successful 1811. Among his astir salient works whitethorn beryllium mentioned A Ninth Bridgewater Treatise, the plan of which was to amusement the mistake of a supposition implied successful the archetypal measurement of that celebrated series, that ardent devotion to mathematical studies is unfavourable to spiritual faith.

Mr Babbage once, and it is believed erstwhile only, sought governmental honours, having go successful 1832 a campaigner for the borough of Finsbury, successful the precocious Liberal interest, but was not successful. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and a subordinate of a ample fig of literate institutions.