An Object Is Frequently Not Seen, From

On Two Occasions I Have Been Asked, 'pray, Mr. Babbage, If You Put Into The Machine Wrong Figures, Will The Right Answers Come Out?' I Am Not Able Rightly To Apprehend The Kind Of Confusion Of Ideas That Could Provoke Such A Question.

Mr. Herschel... Brought With Him The Calculations Of The Computers, And We Commenced The Tedious Process Of Verification. After A Time Many Discrepancies Occurred, And At One Point These Discordances Were So Numerous That I Exclaimed, "i Wish To God These Calculations Had Been Executed By Steam," To Which Herschel Replied, "it Is Quite Possible."

Unless There Exist Peculiar Institutions For The Support Of Such Inquirers, Or Unless The Government Directly Interfere, The Contriver Of A Thaumatrope May Derive Profit From His Ingenuity, Whilst He Who Unravels The Laws Of Light And Vision, On Which Multitudes Of Phenomena Depend, Shall Descend Unrewarded To The Tomb.

Surely, If Knowledge Is Valuable, It Can Never Be Good Policy In A Country Far Wealthier Than Tuscany, To Allow A Genius Like Mr. Dalton's, To Be Employed In The Drudgery Of Elementary Instruction.

The Difference Between A Tool And A Machine Is Not Capable Of Very Precise Distinction; Nor Is It Necessary, In A Popular Explanation Of Those Terms, To Limit Very Strictly Their Acceptation.