Wilkes, Maurice V

Babbage's expectations for his engines.

Publisher Information: 1991. Wilkes, Maurice V. Babbage's expectations for his engines. Offprint from Annals of the History of Computing 13 (1991). Without wrappers as issued. Fine. 141-145pp. 281 x 217 mm. Provenance: Maurice Wilkes Book Id: 39752

First edition, offprint issue. A brief account of the capabilities and limitations of Babbage's Difference Engine and his proposed but never completed Analytical Engine. Of the latter, Wilkes stated that "the Analytical Engine would have been capable of evaluating an arbitrary formula in much the way that a modern digital computer can. Without question it would have been of immense value over a wide range of applications" (p. 144). Wilkes 1999, no. 144. Origins of Cyberspace 1056.

Price: $100.00