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Traces the history of computers from the earliest calculating machines to current stages of development with artificial intelligence. ... Read more

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Publisher: J. MurrayPublication date: 1838Subjects: Natural theologyReligion and scienceHistory / GeneralMathematics / GeneralPhilosophy / ReligiousReligion / PhilosophyReligion / Religion ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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A CLASSIC OF "NATURAL THEOLOGY"
Charles Babbage (1791-1871) was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor, and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer.

The Earl of Bridgewater (1856-1829; he was an amateur naturalist) on his deathbed commissioned eight "Bridgewater Treatises" to explore "the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, as manifested in the Creation." These eight volumes appeared between 1833 to 1840, and included such works as: On the Adaptation of External Nature to the Physical Condition of Man (1833), by John Kidd; Astronomy and General Physics: Considered with Reference to Natural Theology by William Whewell; Animal and Vegetable Physiology: Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, Volume 1 by Peter Mark Roget; Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, Volume 1; and Chemistry, Meteorology, and the Function of Digestion Considered with Reference to Natural Theology by William Prout.

Babbage felt that books such as Whewell's "give support to those who maintain that the pursuits of science are in general unfavorable to religion." Therefore, Babbage composed this work---which he called the "Ninth Bridgewater Treatise"---to support notions such as that "The truths of natural religion rest also on the testimony of our external senses, but united with that internal consciousness of intention of design which we experience in our own breast... Revealed religion rests on human testimony; and on that alone. Its first and greatest support arises from natural religion."

He argues that an engine, "for which, after its original adjustment, no superintendence is required, displays far greater ingenuity than that which demands, at every change in its law, the direct intervention of its contriver."

Concerning revealed religion, he writes, "(T)here exists no such fatal collision between the words of Scripture and the facts of nature." "(W)hilst the testimony of Moses remains unimpeached, we may also be permitted to confide in the testimony of our senses."He explains miracles "not as deviations from the laws assigned by the Almighty for the government of matter and of mind; but as the exact fulfillment of much more extensive laws than those we suppose to exist."

Interestingly, Babbage criticizes Scottish philosopher David Hume's argument against miracles on probabilistic grounds, and concludes, "provided we can assume that independent witnesses can be found of whose testimony it can be stated that it is more probable that it is true than that it is false, we can always assign a number of witnesses which will, according to Hume's argument, prove the truth of a miracle." (Chap. X) [This is certainly a more interesting argument than Christian apologist C.S. Lewis's argument---in his book Miracles---that Hume's argument is circular.]

He concludes on the thought, "It is for you to determine whether the trains of thought I have excited have lowered or exalted your previous notions of the power and the knowledge of the Creator."
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Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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For everyone who buys life insurance policy
It's a good work for understanding pre-history of life insurance! ... Read more

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Publisher: London : C. KnightPublication date: 1832Subjects: MachineryManufacturesNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

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With An Attempt To Explain The Causes Of The Frequent Elevation And Depression Of Large Portions Of The Earths Surface In Remote Periods, And To Prove That Those Causes Continue In Action At The Present Time. With A Supplement. Conjectures On The Physical Condition Of The Surface Of The Moon. ... Read more

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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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An eminent scientist's account of the decline of the more abstract and difficult sciences in England, including an attack on the Royal Society ... Read more

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. It is therefore not unreasonable to suppose that some portion of the neglect of science in England, may be attributed to the system of education we pursue. A young man passes from our public schools to the universities, ignorant almost of the elements of every branch of useful knowledge. ... Read more

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Charles Babbage, 1791 geboren in Walworth, gestorben in London 1871. Die Liste seiner Beiträge zur Vermehrung des menschlichen Wissens scheint endlos: von der Magenpumpe bis zur Statistik biblischer Wunder. Doch nicht erst die folgende oder unsere Zeit vergaß seinen Wunder(un)glauben wie seine vielen Miszellen zu Mensch und Welt, um ihm stattdessen die eine und einzige Rolle als Pionier der Computerpioniere auf den Grabstein zu schreiben."Babbages Rechen-Automate" vereinigt jene Schriften, die erlauben, sich ein detailliertes und vollständiges Bild seiner Rechenmaschinenerfindungen zu machen. Zwar blieben dieEntwürfe auf dem Papier (von rudimentären Versuchskonstruktionen abgesehen), aber sie enthielten doch bereits alle wesentlichen Elemente eines Computers. Nur informiert durch die hier erstmals in so umfassender Form in deutscher Sprache vorliegenden Schriften kann man einen ihrer vorgeblichen Meilensteine in seinen tatsächlichen Konturen erkennen. ... Read more

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Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Charles Babbage," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Charles Babbage in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Charles Babbage when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Charles Babbage, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more