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nydus/The calculating enginePublic

This article examines the development and application of Charles Babbage’s calculating engine for the production of mathematical and astronomical tables. It compiles various scientific papers, reports, and addresses documenting the invention and its impact on the field of mathematics.

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Table of Contents

The calculating engine

1454 1730

Proceeding with this series in the same way, we obtain the following series of third differences:—

60

84

108

132

156

180

204

228

252

276

Proceeding in the same way with these, we obtain the following for the series of fourth differences:—

24

24

24

24

24

24

24

24

24

It appears, therefore, that in this case the series of fourth differences consists of a constant repetition of the number 24. Now, a slight consideration of the succession of arithmetical operations by which we have obtained this result, will show, that by reversing the process, we could obtain the table of fourth powers by the mere process of addition. Beginning with the first numbers in each successive series of differences, and designating the table and the successive differences by the letters T, D1 D2 D3 D4, we have then the following to begin with:—

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