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A CONVERSATION ABOUT LIFE’S UNSEEN PATTERNS

Laughter: The Best Medicine

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Laughter: The Best Medicine

If you listen closely to giggles, guffaws, and polite chuckles, you can discern a huge amount of information about people and their relationships with each other. This week, we talk with neuroscientist Sophie Scott about the many shades of laughter, from cackles of delight among close friends to the “canned” mirth of TV laugh tracks.

The Halo Effect

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The Halo Effect

Judy, Lyn and Donna Ulrich were driving to a volleyball game when their Ford Pinto was hit from behind by a Chevy van. The Pinto caught fire, and the three teenagers wereburned to death. This week on Hidden Brain, we talk to a former Ford insider who could have voted to recall the Pinto years before the Ulrich girls were killed — but didn’t. And we ask, is it possible to fairly evaluate our past actions when we know how things turned out?

Why Nobody Feels Rich

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Why Nobody Feels Rich

If you’ve ever flown in economy class on a plane, you probably had to walk through the first class cabin to get to your seat. Maybe you noticed the extra leg room. The freshly-poured champagne. Maybe you were annoyed, or envious. Social psychologist Keith Payne says we tend to compare ourselves with those who have more than us, but rarely with those who have less. This week, we revisit our 2019 episode on the psychology of income inequality, and how perceptions of our own wealth shape our lives.

Secret Friends

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Secret Friends

Where is the line between what is real and what is imaginary? It seems like an easy question to answer: if you can see it, hear it, or touch it, then it’s real, right? But what if this way of thinking is limiting one of the greatest gifts of the mind? This week, we meet people who experience the invisible as real, and learn how they hone their imaginations to see the world with new eyes.

The Fee-for-Service Monster

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The Fee-for-Service Monster

The United States spends trillions of dollars on healthcare every year, but our outcomes are worse than those of other countries that spend less money. Why? Physician and healthcare executive Vivian Lee explains the psychological and economic incentives embedded in the American model of medicine, and makes the case for a different way forward.

Finding Meaning At Work: How We Shape And Think About Our Jobs

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Finding Meaning At Work: How We Shape And Think About Our Jobs

Finding a new job may be the solution to your woes at work. But there may also be other ways to get more out of your daily grind. This week on Hidden Brain, we explore ways to find meaning at work.

You 2.0: Empathy Gym

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You 2.0: Empathy Gym

Some people are good at putting themselves in another person’s shoes. Others may struggle to relate. But psychologist Jamil Zaki argues that empathy isn’t a fixed trait. This week, in our final installment of You 2.0, we revisit a favorite episode about how to exercise our empathy muscles.

You 2.0: WOOP, WOOP!

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You 2.0: WOOP, WOOP!

American culture is all about positive affirmations. Dream big! Shoot for the stars! But do positive fantasies actually help us achieve our goals? This week, as part of our You 2.0 summer series, we revisit a conversation with researcher Gabriele Oettingen about how we can make our goals more attainable.

You 2.0: Loss And Renewal

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You 2.0: Loss And Renewal

Maya Shankar was well on her way to a career as a violinist when an injury closed that door. This week, as part of our annual You 2.0 series on personal growth and reinvention, we revisit our 2015 conversation with Maya, in which she shares how she found a new path forward after losing an identity she loved.

You 2.0: Fresh Starts

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You 2.0: Fresh Starts

Unpredictable things happen to us all the time. As part of our annual You 2.0 series on personal growth and reinvention, we revisit two of our favorite stories of loss and the change it brings.

You 2.0: The Mind's Eye

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You 2.0: The Mind’s Eye

Some challenges feel insurmountable. But psychologist Emily Balcetis says the solutions are often right in front of our eyes. This week, as part of our annual series on personal growth and reinvention, Emily explains how we can harness our sight to affect our behavior.

You 2.0: Our Pursuit of Happiness

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You 2.0: Our Pursuit of Happiness

Sometimes, life can feel like being stuck on a treadmill. No matter how hard you try to get happier, you end up back where you started. What’s going on here? We kick off our annual You 2.0 summer series with happiness researcher Elizabeth Dunn, who explains how to fight the treadmill feeling.

Edge Effect

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Edge Effect

There is great comfort in the familiar. It’s one reason humans often flock to other people who share the same interests, laugh at the same jokes, hold the same political views. But familiar ground may not be the best place to cultivate creativity. Researchers have found that people with deep connections to those from other countries and cultures often see benefits in terms of their creative output. This week, we revisit a favorite 2018 episode about the powerful connection between the ideas we dream up and the people who surround us, and what it really takes to think outside the box.

In The Heat Of The Moment

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In The Heat Of The Moment

In a fit of anger or in the grip of fear, many of us make decisions that we never would have anticipated. This week, we look at situations that make us strangers to ourselves — and why it’s so difficult to remember what these “hot states” feel like once the moment is over.

The Untold Story Of Lyndie B. Hawkins

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The Untold Story Of Lyndie B. Hawkins

In 2019, a novel by a new author, Gail Shepherd, arrived in bookstores. The True History of Lyndie B. Hawkins tells the story of a young white girl growing up in the South. The book has been well received, but it is not the book Shepherd intended to write. In her original drafts, Shepherd, a white author, created a Lyndie who was Vietnamese-American, and dealing with issues of race in the deep South. This week we look at what it means to be a storyteller in a time of caustic cultural debate and ask when, if ever, is it okay to tell a story that is not your own?

Romeo & Juliet In Rwanda

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Romeo & Juliet In Rwanda

How do you change someone’s behavior? Most of us would point to education or persuasion. But what if the answer lies elsewhere? This week, we revisit a 2018 story about human nature and behavior change — a story that will take us on a journey from Budapest to the hills of Rwanda.

The Night That Lasted A Lifetime

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The Night That Lasted A Lifetime

Not long after his sixteenth birthday, Fred Clay was arrested for the murder of a cab driver in Boston. Eventually, Fred was found guilty — but only after police and prosecutors used questionable psychological techniques to single him out as the killer. This week on Hidden Brain, we go back four decades to uncover the harm that arises when flawed ideas from psychology are used to determine that a teenager should spend the rest of his life behind bars.

The Founding Contradiction

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The Founding Contradiction

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” These words, penned by Thomas Jefferson more than 240 years ago, continue to inspire many Americans. And yet they were written by a man who owned hundreds of slaves, and fathered six children by an enslaved woman. As we mark Independence Day this week, we return to a 2018 episode with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed. We explore the contradictions in Jefferson’s life — and how those contradictions might resonate in our own lives.

Buy, Borrow, Steal

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Buy, Borrow, Steal

Policymakers have a tried-and-true game plan for jump-starting the economy in times of severe recession: Push stimulus packages and lower interest rates so Americans will borrow and spend. But economist Amir Sufi says the way we traditionally address a recession is deeply flawed. He argues that by encouraging “sugar-rush” solutions, the nation is putting poor and middle-class Americans and the entire economy at even greater risk. This week we look at the role of debt as a hidden driver of recessions, and how we might create a more stable system.

The Mind Of The Village: Understanding Our Implicit Biases

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The Mind Of The Village: Understanding Our Implicit Biases

This week on Hidden Brain, research about prejudices so deeply buried, we often doubt their existence. We’ll begin with police shootings of unarmed Black men. We also look at how biases affect judges.

A Rap on Trial

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A Rap on Trial

In the past few weeks, the nation has been gripped by protests against police brutality toward black and brown Americans. The enormous number of demonstrators may be new, but the biases they’re protesting are not. In 2017, we looked at research on an alleged form of bias in the justice system. This week, we revisit that story, and explore how public perceptions of rap music may have played a role in the prosecution of a man named Olutosin Oduwole.

The Air We Breathe

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The Air We Breathe

President Trump said this week that a few “bad apples” were to blame for police killings of black people. But research suggests that something more complicated is at play — a force that affects everyone in the culture, not just police officers. In this bonus episode, we revisit our 2017 look at implicit bias and how a culture of racism can infect us all.

Graduating High School During A Recession Could Be A Good Thing, Study Finds

Recessions typically damage workers’ long-term earnings. NPR’s Hidden Brain podcast explains how a study found that students graduating from high school during a recession may be an exception.

(Suggested by Suzanne Deakins, H.W., M.)

Jacquard’s Loom

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 

This portrait of Jacquard was woven in silk on a Jacquard loom and required 24,000 punched cards to create (1839). It was only produced to order. Charles Babbage owned one of these portraits; it inspired him in using perforated cards in his Analytical Engine.[1] It is in the collection of the Science Museum in London, England.[2]A Jacquard loom showing information punchcards, National Museum of Scotland

The Jacquard machine (French: [ʒakaʁ]) is a device fitted to a loom that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocadedamask and matelassé.[3] The resulting ensemble of the loom and Jacquard machine is then called a Jacquard loom. The machine was invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804,[4] based on earlier inventions by the Frenchmen Basile Bouchon (1725), Jean Baptiste Falcon (1728), and Jacques Vaucanson (1740).[5] The machine was controlled by a “chain of cards”; a number of punched cards laced together into a continuous sequence.[6] Multiple rows of holes were punched on each card, with one complete card corresponding to one row of the design.

Both the Jacquard process and the necessary loom attachment are named after their inventor. This mechanism is probably one of the most important weaving inventions as Jacquard shedding made possible the automatic production of unlimited varieties of pattern weaving. The term “Jacquard” is not specific or limited to any particular loom, but rather refers to the added control mechanism that automates the patterning. The process can also be used for patterned knitwear and machine-knitted textiles, such as jerseys.[7]

This use of replaceable punched cards to control a sequence of operations is considered an important step in the history of computing hardware.

History

Traditionally, figured designs were made on a drawloom. The heddles with warp ends to be pulled up were manually selected by a second operator, the draw boy, not the weaver. The work was slow and labour-intensive, and the complexity of the pattern was limited by practical factors.

The first prototype of a Jacquard-type loom was made in the second half of the 15th century by an Italian weaver from Calabria, Jean le Calabrais, who was invited to Lyon by Louis XI.[8][9] He introduced a new kind of machine which was able to work the yarns faster and more precisely. Over the years, improvements to the loom were ongoing.[10]

An improvement of the draw loom took place in 1725, when Basile Bouchon introduced the principle of applying a perforated band of paper. A continuous roll of paper was punched by hand, in sections, each of which represented one lash or tread, and the length of the roll was determined by the number of shots in each repeat of pattern. The Jacquard machine then evolved from this approach.

Joseph Marie Jacquard saw that a mechanism could be developed for the production of sophisticated patterns. He possibly combined mechanical elements of other inventors, but certainly innovated. His machine was generally similar to Vaucanson‘s arrangement, but he made use of Jean-Baptiste Falcon’s individual pasteboard cards and his square prism (or card “cylinder”): he is credited with having fully perforated each of its four sides, replacing Vaucanson’s perforated “barrel”. Jacquard’s machine contained eight rows of needles and uprights, where Vaucanson had a double row. This modification enabled him to increase the figuring capacity of the machine. In his first machine, he supported the harness by knotted cords, which he elevated by a single trap board.

One of the chief advantages claimed for the Jacquard machine was that unlike previous damask-weaving machines, in which the figuring shed was usually drawn once for every four shots, with the new apparatus, it could be drawn on every shot, thus producing a fabric with greater definition of outline.[11]

Jacquard’s invention had a deep influence on Charles Babbage. In that respect, he is viewed by some authors as a precursor of modern computing technology.[12]

Principles of operation

Jacquard diagram. The numbered components are as described in the text.19th century Engineering drawing of a Jacquard loom.

On the diagram, the cards are fastened into a continuous chain (1) which passes over a square box. At each quarter rotation a new card is presented to the Jacquard head which represents one row (one “pick” of the shuttle carrying the weft). The box swings from the right to the position shown and presses against the control rods (2). Where there is a hole the rod passes through the card and is unmoved whereas if the hole is not punched the rod is pushed to the left. Each rod acts upon a hook (3). When the rod is pushed in, the hook moves out of position to the left, a rod that is not pushed in leaves its hook in place. A beam (4) then rises under the hooks and those hooks in the rest location are raised; the hooks that have been displaced are not moved by the beam. Each hook can have multiple cords (5). The cords pass through a guide(6) and are attached to their heddle (7) and a return weight (8). The heddles raise the warp to create the shed through which the shuttle carrying the weft will pass. A loom with a 400 hook head might have four threads connected to each hook, resulting in a fabric that is 1600 warp ends wide with four repeats of the weave going across.

The term “Jacquard loom” is somewhat inaccurate. It is the “Jacquard head” that adapts to a great many dobby looms that allow the weaving machine to then create the intricate patterns often seen in Jacquard weaving.

Jacquard-driven looms, although relatively common in the textile industry, are not as ubiquitous as dobby looms which are usually faster and much cheaper to operate. However, dobby looms are not capable of producing so many different weaves from one warp. Modern jacquard machines are controlled by computers in place of the original punched cards, and can have thousands of hooks.

The threading of a Jacquard machine is so labor-intensive that many looms are threaded only once. Subsequent warps are then tied into the existing warp with the help of a knotting robot which ties each new thread on individually. Even for a small loom with only a few thousand warp ends the process of re-threading can take days.

Mechanical Jacquard devices

Punched cards in use in a Jacquard loom.A punch for Jacquard cards

Originally the Jacquard machines were mechanical, and the fabric design was stored in a series of punched cards which were joined to form a continuous chain. The Jacquards often were small and only independently controlled a relatively few warp ends. This required a number of repeats across the loom width. Larger capacity machines, or the use of multiple machines, allowed greater control, with fewer repeats, and hence larger designs could be woven across the loom width.

factory must choose looms and shedding mechanisms to suit its commercial requirements. As a rule the more warp control required the greater the expense. So it is not economical to purchase Jacquard machines if one can make do with a dobby mechanism. As well as the capital expense, the Jacquard machines are more costly to maintain, as they are complex and require higher skilled personnel; an expensive design system is required to prepare the designs for the loom, and possibly a card-cutting machine. Weaving is more costly since Jacquard mechanisms are more likely to produce faults than dobby or cam shedding. Also, the looms will not run as quickly and down-time will increase because it takes time to change the continuous chain of cards when a design changes. For these reasons it is best to weave larger batches with mechanical Jacquards.

Electronic Jacquard machines

It is recorded that in 1855, a Frenchman[13] adapted the Jacquard mechanism to a system by which it could be worked by electro-magnets. There was significant interest, but trials were not successful, and the development was soon forgotten.

Bonas Textile Machinery NV launched the first successful electronic Jacquard at ITMA Milan in 1983.[14][a] Although the machines were initially small, modern technology has allowed Jacquard machine capacity to increase significantly, and single end warp control can extend to more than 10,000 warp ends.[16] That avoids the need for repeats and symmetrical designs and allows almost infinite versatility. The computer-controlled machines significantly reduce the down time associated with changing punched paper designs, thus allowing smaller batch sizes. However, electronic Jacquards are costly and may not be required in a factory weaving large batch sizes, and smaller designs. The larger machines allowing single end warp control are very expensive, and can only be justified where great versatility is required, or very specialized design requirements need to be met. For example, they are an ideal tool to increase the ability and stretch the versatility of the niche linen Jacquard weavers who remain active in Europe and the West, while most of the large batch commodity weaving has moved to low cost areas.[citation needed]

Linen products associated with Jacquard weaving are linen damask napery, Jacquard apparel fabrics and damask bed linen. Jacquard weaving uses all sorts of fibers and blends of fibers, and it is used in the production of fabrics for many end uses. Jacquard weaving can also be used to create fabrics that have a Matelassé or a brocade pattern.[17] Research is under way[when?][needs update] to develop layered and shaped items as reinforcing components for structures made from composite materials.[citation needed]

The woven silk prayer book

A pinnacle of production using a Jacquard machine is a prayer book, woven in silk. The book’s title is Livre de Prières. Tissé d’après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle.[18][19] All 58 pages of the prayer book were made of silk, woven using a Jacquard machine, using black and gray thread. The pages have elaborate borders with text and pictures of saints. It is estimated that 200,000 to 500,000 punch cards were necessary to encode the pages, at 160 threads per cm (400 threads per inch).

It was issued in 1886 and 1887, in Lyon, France. It was publicly displayed at the 1889 Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair). It was designed by R.P.J. Hervier, woven by J.A. Henry and published by A. Roux.[20] It took 2 years and almost 50 trials to get correct. An estimated 50 or 60 copies were produced.

Importance in computing

The Jacquard head used replaceable punched cards to control a sequence of operations. It is considered an important step in the history of computing hardware.[21] The ability to change the pattern of the loom’s weave by simply changing cards was an important conceptual precursor to the development of computer programming and data entry. Charles Babbage knew of Jacquard machines and planned to use cards to store programs in his Analytical Engine. In the late 19th century, Herman Hollerith took the idea of using punched cards to store information a step further when he created a punched card tabulating machine which he used to input data for the 1890 U.S. Census. A large data processing industry using punched-card technology was developed in the first half of the twentieth century—dominated initially by the International Business Machine corporation (IBM), with its line of unit record equipment. The cards were used for data, however, with programming done by plugboards.

Some early computers, such as the 1944 IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (Harvard Mark I) received program instructions from a paper tape punched with holes, similar to Jacquard’s string of cards. Later computers executed programs from higher-speed memory, though cards were commonly used to load the programs into memory. Punched cards remained in use in computing up until the mid 1980s.

More at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacquard_machine

Bio: Charles Babbage

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Charles Babbage
KH FRS
Charles Babbage
Born26 December 1791
London (likely Southwark)
Died18 October 1871 (aged 79)
Marylebone, London, UK
NationalityEnglish
CitizenshipBritish
Alma materPeterhouse, Cambridge
Known forDifference engine
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics, engineering, political economy, computer science
InstitutionsTrinity College, Cambridge
InfluencesRobert WoodhouseGaspard MongeJohn Herschel
InfluencedKarl MarxJohn Stuart MillAda Lovelace
Signature

Portrait of Charles Babbage (c.1820)

Charles Babbage KH FRS (/ˈbæbɪdʒ/; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath.[1] A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer.[2]

Babbage is considered by some to be “father of the computer“.[2][3][4][5] Babbage is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer, the Difference Engine, that eventually led to more complex electronic designs, though all the essential ideas of modern computers are to be found in Babbage’s Analytical Engine.[2][6] His varied work in other fields has led him to be described as “pre-eminent” among the many polymaths of his century.[1]

Babbage, who died before the complete successful engineering of many of his designs, including his Difference Engine and Analytical Engine, remained a prominent figure in the ideating of computing. Parts of Babbage’s incomplete mechanisms are on display in the Science Museum in London. In 1991, a functioning difference engine was constructed from Babbage’s original plans. Built to tolerances achievable in the 19th century, the success of the finished engine indicated that Babbage’s machine would have worked.

Early life

Engraving of Charles Babbage dated 1833

Babbage’s birthplace is disputed, but according to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography he was most likely born at 44 Crosby Row, Walworth Road, London, England.[7] A blue plaque on the junction of Larcom Street and Walworth Road commemorates the event.[8]

His date of birth was given in his obituary in The Times as 26 December 1792; but then a nephew wrote to say that Babbage was born one year earlier, in 1791. The parish register of St. Mary’sNewington, London, shows that Babbage was baptised on 6 January 1792, supporting a birth year of 1791.[9][10][11]Babbage c. 1850

Babbage was one of four children of Benjamin Babbage and Betsy Plumleigh Teape. His father was a banking partner of William Praed in founding Praed’s & Co. of Fleet Street, London, in 1801.[12] In 1808, the Babbage family moved into the old Rowdens house in East Teignmouth. Around the age of eight, Babbage was sent to a country school in Alphington near Exeter to recover from a life-threatening fever. For a short time he attended King Edward VI Grammar School in Totnes, South Devon, but his health forced him back to private tutors for a time.[13]

Babbage then joined the 30-student Holmwood Academy, in Baker Street, EnfieldMiddlesex, under the Reverend Stephen Freeman. The academy had a library that prompted Babbage’s love of mathematics. He studied with two more private tutors after leaving the academy. The first was a clergyman near Cambridge; through him Babbage encountered Charles Simeon and his evangelical followers, but the tuition was not what he needed.[14] He was brought home, to study at the Totnes school: this was at age 16 or 17.[15] The second was an Oxford tutor, under whom Babbage reached a level in Classics sufficient to be accepted by Cambridge.

At the University of Cambridge

Babbage arrived at Trinity College, Cambridge, in October 1810.[16] He was already self-taught in some parts of contemporary mathematics;[17] he had read in Robert WoodhouseJoseph Louis Lagrange, and Marie Agnesi. As a result, he was disappointed in the standard mathematical instruction available at the university.[7]

Babbage, John HerschelGeorge Peacock, and several other friends formed the Analytical Society in 1812; they were also close to Edward Ryan.[18] As a student, Babbage was also a member of other societies such as The Ghost Club, concerned with investigating supernatural phenomena, and the Extractors Club, dedicated to liberating its members from the madhouse, should any be committed to one.[19][20]

In 1812, Babbage transferred to Peterhouse, Cambridge.[16] He was the top mathematician there, but did not graduate with honours. He instead received a degree without examination in 1814. He had defended a thesis that was considered blasphemous in the preliminary public disputation; but it is not known whether this fact is related to his not sitting the examination.[7]

After Cambridge

Considering his reputation, Babbage quickly made progress. He lectured to the Royal Institution on astronomy in 1815, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1816.[21] After graduation, on the other hand, he applied for positions unsuccessfully, and had little in the way of career. In 1816 he was a candidate for a teaching job at Haileybury College; he had recommendations from James Ivory and John Playfair, but lost out to Henry Walter.[22] In 1819, Babbage and Herschel visited Paris and the Society of Arcueil, meeting leading French mathematicians and physicists.[23] That year Babbage applied to be professor at the University of Edinburgh, with the recommendation of Pierre Simon Laplace; the post went to William Wallace.[24][25][26]

With Herschel, Babbage worked on the electrodynamics of Arago’s rotations, publishing in 1825. Their explanations were only transitional, being picked up and broadened by Michael Faraday. The phenomena are now part of the theory of eddy currents, and Babbage and Herschel missed some of the clues to unification of electromagnetic theory, staying close to Ampère’s force law.[27]

Babbage purchased the actuarial tables of George Barrett, who died in 1821 leaving unpublished work, and surveyed the field in 1826 in Comparative View of the Various Institutions for the Assurance of Lives.[28] This interest followed a project to set up an insurance company, prompted by Francis Baily and mooted in 1824, but not carried out.[29] Babbage did calculate actuarial tables for that scheme, using Equitable Society mortality data from 1762 onwards.[30]

During this whole period Babbage depended awkwardly on his father’s support, given his father’s attitude to his early marriage, of 1814: he and Edward Ryan wedded the Whitmore sisters. He made a home in Marylebone in London, and founded a large family.[31] On his father’s death in 1827, Babbage inherited a large estate (value around £100,000, equivalent to £8.72 million or $11.1 million today), making him independently wealthy.[7] After his wife’s death in the same year he spent time travelling. In Italy he met Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, foreshadowing a later visit to Piedmont.[21] In April 1828 he was in Rome, and relying on Herschel to manage the difference engine project, when he heard that he had become professor at Cambridge, a position he had three times failed to obtain (in 1820, 1823 and 1826).[32]

Royal Astronomical Society

Babbage was instrumental in founding the Royal Astronomical Society in 1820, initially known as the Astronomical Society of London.[33] Its original aims were to reduce astronomical calculations to a more standard form, and to circulate data.[34] These directions were closely connected with Babbage’s ideas on computation, and in 1824 he won its Gold Medal, cited “for his invention of an engine for calculating mathematical and astronomical tables“.

Babbage’s motivation to overcome errors in tables by mechanisation had been a commonplace since Dionysius Lardner wrote about it in 1834 in the Edinburgh Review (under Babbage’s guidance).[35][36] The context of these developments is still debated. Babbage’s own account of the origin of the difference engine begins with the Astronomical Society’s wish to improve The Nautical Almanac. Babbage and Herschel were asked to oversee a trial project, to recalculate some part of those tables. With the results to hand, discrepancies were found. This was in 1821 or 1822, and was the occasion on which Babbage formulated his idea for mechanical computation.[37] The issue of the Nautical Almanac is now described as a legacy of a polarisation in British science caused by attitudes to Sir Joseph Banks, who had died in 1820.[38]A portion of the difference engine

Babbage studied the requirements to establish a modern postal system, with his friend Thomas Frederick Colby, concluding there should be a uniform rate that was put into effect with the introduction of the Uniform Fourpenny Post supplanted by the Uniform Penny Post[39] in 1839 and 1840. Colby was another of the founding group of the Society.[40] He was also in charge of the Survey of Ireland. Herschel and Babbage were present at a celebrated operation of that survey, the remeasuring of the Lough Foyle baseline.[41]

British Lagrangian School

The Analytical Society had initially been no more than an undergraduate provocation. During this period it had some more substantial achievements. In 1816 Babbage, Herschel and Peacock published a translation from French of the lectures of Sylvestre Lacroix, which was then the state-of-the-art calculus textbook.[42]

Reference to Lagrange in calculus terms marks out the application of what are now called formal power series. British mathematicians had used them from about 1730 to 1760. As re-introduced, they were not simply applied as notations in differential calculus. They opened up the fields of functional equations (including the difference equations fundamental to the difference engine) and operator (D-module) methods for differential equations. The analogy of difference and differential equations was notationally changing Δ to D, as a “finite” difference becomes “infinitesimal”. These symbolic directions became popular, as operational calculus, and pushed to the point of diminishing returns. The Cauchy concept of limit was kept at bay.[43] Woodhouse had already founded this second “British Lagrangian School” with its treatment of Taylor series as formal.[44]

In this context function composition is complicated to express, because the chain rule is not simply applied to second and higher derivatives. This matter was known to Woodhouse by 1803, who took from Louis François Antoine Arbogast what is now called Faà di Bruno’s formula. In essence it was known to Abraham De Moivre (1697). Herschel found the method impressive, Babbage knew of it, and it was later noted by Ada Lovelace as compatible with the analytical engine.[45] In the period to 1820 Babbage worked intensively on functional equations in general, and resisted both conventional finite differences and Arbogast’s approach (in which Δ and D were related by the simple additive case of the exponential map). But via Herschel he was influenced by Arbogast’s ideas in the matter of iteration, i.e. composing a function with itself, possibly many times.[44] Writing in a major paper on functional equations in the Philosophical Transactions (1815/6), Babbage said his starting point was work of Gaspard Monge.[46]

Academic

From 1828 to 1839, Babbage was Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge. Not a conventional resident don, and inattentive to his teaching responsibilities, he wrote three topical books during this period of his life. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1832.[47] Babbage was out of sympathy with colleagues: George Biddell Airy, his predecessor as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge,[48] thought an issue should be made of his lack of interest in lecturing. Babbage planned to lecture in 1831 on political economy. Babbage’s reforming direction looked to see university education more inclusive, universities doing more for research, a broader syllabus and more interest in applications; but William Whewell found the programme unacceptable. A controversy Babbage had with Richard Jones lasted for six years.[49] He never did give a lecture.[50]

It was during this period that Babbage tried to enter politics. Simon Schaffer writes that his views of the 1830s included disestablishment of the Church of England, a broader political franchise, and inclusion of manufacturers as stakeholders.[51] He twice stood for Parliament as a candidate for the borough of Finsbury. In 1832 he came in third among five candidates, missing out by some 500 votes in the two-member constituency when two other reformist candidates, Thomas Wakley and Christopher Temple, split the vote.[52][53] In his memoirs Babbage related how this election brought him the friendship of Samuel Rogers: his brother Henry Rogers wished to support Babbage again, but died within days.[54] In 1834 Babbage finished last among four.[55][56][57] In 1832, Babbage, Herschel and Ivory were appointed Knights of the Royal Guelphic Order, however they were not subsequently made knights bachelor to entitle them to the prefix Sir, which often came with appointments to that foreign order (though Herschel was later created a baronet).[58]

“Declinarians”, learned societies and the BAAS

Letter to Sir Humphry Davy, 1822

Babbage now emerged as a polemicist. One of his biographers notes that all his books contain a “campaigning element”. His Reflections on the Decline of Science and some of its Causes (1830) stands out, however, for its sharp attacks. It aimed to improve British science, and more particularly to oust Davies Gilbert as President of the Royal Society, which Babbage wished to reform.[59] It was written out of pique, when Babbage hoped to become the junior secretary of the Royal Society, as Herschel was the senior, but failed because of his antagonism to Humphry Davy.[60] Michael Faraday had a reply written, by Gerrit Moll, as On the Alleged Decline of Science in England (1831).[61] On the front of the Royal Society Babbage had no impact, with the bland election of the Duke of Sussex to succeed Gilbert the same year. As a broad manifesto, on the other hand, his Decline led promptly to the formation in 1831 of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS).[61]

The Mechanics’ Magazine in 1831 identified as Declinarians the followers of Babbage. In an unsympathetic tone it pointed out David Brewster writing in the Quarterly Review as another leader; with the barb that both Babbage and Brewster had received public money.[62]

In the debate of the period on statistics (qua data collection) and what is now statistical inference, the BAAS in its Statistical Section (which owed something also to Whewell) opted for data collection. This Section was the sixth, established in 1833 with Babbage as chairman and John Elliot Drinkwater as secretary. The foundation of the Statistical Society followed.[63][64][65] Babbage was its public face, backed by Richard Jones and Robert Malthus.[66]

On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures

On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, 1835Babbage’s notation for machine parts, explanation from On a method of expressing by signs the action of machinery (1827) of his “Mechanical Notation”, invented for his own use in understanding the work on the difference engine, and an influence on the conception of the analytical engine[67]

Babbage published On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures (1832), on the organisation of industrial production. It was an influential early work of operational research.[68] John Rennie the Younger in addressing the Institution of Civil Engineers on manufacturing in 1846 mentioned mostly surveys in encyclopaedias, and Babbage’s book was first an article in the Encyclopædia Metropolitana, the form in which Rennie noted it, in the company of related works by John Farey, Jr.Peter Barlow and Andrew Ure.[69] From An essay on the general principles which regulate the application of machinery to manufactures and the mechanical arts (1827), which became the Encyclopædia Metropolitana article of 1829, Babbage developed the schematic classification of machines that, combined with discussion of factories, made up the first part of the book. The second part considered the “domestic and political economy” of manufactures.[70]

The book sold well, and quickly went to a fourth edition (1836).[71] Babbage represented his work as largely a result of actual observations in factories, British and abroad. It was not, in its first edition, intended to address deeper questions of political economy; the second (late 1832) did, with three further chapters including one on piece rate.[72] The book also contained ideas on rational design in factories, and profit sharing.[73]

Continue reading Bio: Charles Babbage

Hong Kong crowd booing China’s anthem sparks police probe

張家朗奪金 頒獎禮過百人嗌「WE ARE HONG KONG」冚國歌

July 30, 2021 (bbc.com)

Closeup of the Chinese flag
image captionFile image of the Chinese flag

Hong Kong police are investigating an incident where a crowd watching the Olympics booed China’s anthem.

Hundreds gathered at a shopping mall on Monday to watch a broadcast and cheer on Hong Kong fencer Edgar Cheung, who won gold in the men’s individual foil.

When the Chinese national anthem was played, some in the crowd began jeering while others shouted “We are Hong Kong”, video filmed at the scene shows.

It is illegal to insult the anthem under a recently passed law.

Anyone found guilty of flouting the national anthem law could be jailed up to three years and fined HK$50,000 (£4,600, $6,400).

Reports also said that the British colonial flag was flown and some had chanted protest slogans, which could possibly violate the national security law which forbids anything that incites “secession” and could result in life in jail.

Police sources told local media that they are collecting and examining footage from the mall’s security cameras.

The incident took place in the same week as the conviction of the first person charged under the national security law.

Both laws were passed last year and have been met with huge controversy, with critics saying they clamp down on free speech.

But Hong Kong authorities and the Chinese government deny this and say the laws are necessary to preserve peace and patriotism.

Hong Kong saw widespread protests in 2019 when tens of thousands took to the streets demanding democratic reforms. Some of those demonstrations turned violent as protesters and police clashed.

Since then China has cracked down hard, introducing several strict laws aimed at curbing violence and what it deems as “separatism”.

Hong Kong, a former British colony, was handed back to China in 1997.

Since then it has been ruled under the “one country, two systems” principle that preserves freedoms in the city that the mainland does not have.

Critics say those freedoms are now under threat with China’s recent moves and the UK has accused China of flouting the terms of its handover agreement, but China denies this.

Tarot card for 30 July 2021: The Five of WanDs

Angel Paths Card of the Day

The Lord of Strife is rarely welcome in a reading. But it has a clear message, stick to your moral core and do not engage in conflict just for the sake of it.

The Five of Wands

The Lord of Strife usually appears in a reading to indicate quarrels, conflict and discord. There is rarely anything of value to be gained from the disharmony introduced by this card – in fact, it will often indicate bitterness and argument for argument’s sake.

To try to determine how serious the strife will be, look for cards like Nine of SwordsTen of Swords or the Tower to indicate a really bad situation. With cards such as the Eight of Wands or the Six of Wands it’s probable that the friction may clear an outstanding problem area.

This card will often come up when some-one is very unhappy with a working situation – there is, perhaps, a clash of personality with somebody else; or perhaps the individual is unhappy with working practises. Often in this situation there’s a tendency toward rashness and loss of control which can lead to further problems.

Another time that the Lord of Strife will make an appearance is when we are in inner conflict – most often about something we consider to be immoral. This is probably the most significant type of problem that can be highlighted with this card. For instance, if we have taken an easy option, or a dishonest turn, and are now troubled by the voice of our conscience, we could expect to see the Lord of Strife appearing.

In this case we need to set right whatever we believe we have done wrong – or failed to do altogether. We will not be at peace until we do. The Five of Wands is a card that reminds us quite firmly about the ethical considerations that underpin the Suit of Wands.

The Five of Wands

Working with The Five of Wands

(Contributed by Alan Blackman)

Are wild animals really “wild”?

June 2021 (ted.com)

Human activity is affecting the planet in dramatic, unsustainable ways — including destroying the habitats of wild animals. Considering our obligation to care for the creatures we’ve impacted, environmental writer Emma Marris dives into the ethics of wildlife management, zoos and aquariums, offering her thoughts on how we can help Earth’s wildlife flourish. (This conversation, hosted by TED science curator David Biello, was part of a TED Membership event. Visit ted.com/membership to become a TED Member.)

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Emma Marris · Environmental writerEmma Marris is a writer focusing on environmental science, policy and culture, with an approach that she paints as being “more interested in finding and describing solutions than delineating problems, and more interested in joy than despair.”

David Biello · TED science curator, authorDavid Biello is TED’s science curator and the author of “The Unnatural World: The Race to Remake Civilization in Earth’s Newest Age.”

Juice: How Electricity Explains The World – Trailer

Synopsis

While electricity availability doesn’t guarantee wealth, its absence almost always means poverty.

Juice takes viewers to Beirut, Reykjavik, Kolkata, San Juan, Manhattan, and Boulder to tell the human story of electricity and to explain why power equals power.

The defining inequality in the world today is the disparity between the electricity rich and the electricity poor. In fact, there are more than 3 billion people on the planet today who are using less electricity than what’s used by an average American refrigerator.

Electricity is the world’s most important and fastest-growing form of energy. To illuminate its importance, the Juice team traveled 60,000 miles to gather 40 on-camera interviews with people from seven countries on five continents. Juice shows how electricity explains everything from women’s rights and climate change to Bitcoin mining and indoor marijuana production. The punchline of the film is simple: darkness kills human potential. Electricity nourishes it.

Juice explains who has electricity, who’s getting it, and how developing countries all over the world are working to bring their people out of the dark and into the light.

Juice The Movie Juice tells the human story of electricity and explains why power equals power. Order today on iTunes https://apple.co/3e4quem

More info at: http://juicethemovie.com/

(Contributed by Michael Kelly, H.W.)

C.S. Lewis on the “Inner Ring”

C.S. Lewis

“The quest of the Inner Ring will break your hearts unless you break it. But if you break it, a surprising result will follow. If in your working hours you make the work your end, you will presently find yourself all unawares inside the only circle in your profession that really matters. You will be one of the sound craftsmen, and other sound craftsmen will know it. This group of craftsmen will by no means coincide with the Inner Ring or the Important People or the People in the Know. It will not shape that professional policy or work up that professional influence which fights for the profession as a whole against the public: nor will it lead to those periodic scandals and crises which the Inner Ring produces. But it will do those things which that profession exists to do and will in the long run be responsible for all the respect which that profession in fact enjoys and which the speeches and advertisements cannot maintain. And if in your spare time you consort simply with the people you like, you will again find that you have come unawares to a real inside: that you are indeed snug and safe at the center of something which, seen from without, would look exactly like an Inner Ring. But the difference is that its secrecy is accidental, and its exclusiveness a by-product, and no one was led thither by the lure of the esoteric: for it is only four or five people who like one another meeting to do things that they like. This is friendship. Aristotle placed it among the virtues. It causes perhaps half of all the happiness in the world, and no Inner Ring can ever have it.”

― C.S. Lewis