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On two occasions I have been asked, — "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?" In one case a member of the Upper, and in the other a member of the Lower, House put this question. I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.

— Charles Babbage Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)

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More quotes by Charles Babbage

The whole of arithmetic now appeared within the grasp of mechanism.

Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)

I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.

Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)

As soon as an Analytical Engine exists, it will necessarily guide the future course of the science. Whenever any result is sought by its aid, the question will then arise — by what course of calculation can these results be arrived at by the machine in the shortest time?

Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (1864)

The errors which arise from the absence of facts are far more numerous and more durable than those which result from unsound reasoning respecting true data.

The triumph of the industrial arts will advance the cause of civilization more rapidly than its warmest advocates could have hoped, and contribute to the permanent prosperity and strength of the country far more than the most splendid victories of successful war.

p. xii-xiii; Cited in: Samuel Smiles Industrial biography; iron-workers and tool-makers (1864)

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