The Dissonant Distractions of the Ligyrophobic* Literati

n                      Charles Babbage was born at Teignmouth in 1791 (althoughnthe older editions of Dictionary of National Biography erroneously give the date 1792), and wasna sickly child, receiving a desultory early education, although he taughtnhimself algebra, of which he was inordinately fond. 

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nIn 1811, he went up tonTrinity College, Cambridge but found himself more advanced than his tutors,n(when his father asked one of the professors for any information that mightnprove useful for the prospective student, he received the reply, “Advise yournson not to purchase his wine in Cambridge.”), so, in 1812, he founded withnHerschel, Peacock and others, the Analytical Society, to promote D-ismn(as opposed to the Dot-age of the university). These three conjointlyntranslated Lacroix’s Elementary Treatise on the Differential and IntegralnCalculus (1816), follow by two volumes of Examples (1820), giving annimpetus to a mathematical revival in England, which introduced continentalnnotation and analytical methods to the country. Babbage transferred to Peterhousenand graduated in 1814, with an honorary degree, was elected to the RoyalnSociety in 1816, took an M.A. in 1817, and was instrumental in forming thenAstronomical Society in 1820. 

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nFrom his early days at Cambridge, Babbage hadnbeen interested in the possibility of using machines in mathematicalnoperations, using wheelwork to calculate a series by employing a ‘method ofndifferences’ which was much more accurate than the operation of manual methodsnemployed by so-called ‘computers’ (people employed to ‘compute’). 

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nHenconstructed a small engine between 1820 and 1822, and presented it to thenAstronomical Society in June 1822, for which he received the first gold medalnawarded by the Society. The success caused Babbage to approach Sir HumphreynDavy, president of the Royal Society, with a proposal to construct a largernengine to produce the innumerable tables required for navigation, astronomicalnobservations and so on. After favourable interviews, Babbage was awarded £1,500nfrom the Civil Contingencies Fund and work began in earnest to build thenengine. This continued for four years, after which Babbage went abroad on anhealth cure for a year, where he observed continental practices and factories,nand returned home in 1828. He re-applied for further funding, receiving thenapproval and support of the Duke of Wellington, who was favourably impressed bynthe progress already made. There followed a delay of about fifteen months, whennMr Clement, the engineer employed to construct the Difference Engine, objectednto the removal of the works to other premises and sought substantialncompensation, upon which being refused, he withdrew his labourers and removednthe specialised tools necessary for the construction of the machine. 

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nDuringnthis delay, Babbage developed the concept of an improved version, thenAnalytical Engine, which he was sure would be much faster than the originalnmachine, and presented his case to the government. In spite of prolongedncommunication, Babbage did not receive an answer to his question that he shouldnproceed with the original version, and after eight years, in 1842, Mr Goulburn,nChancellor of the Exchequer, announced that the project was to be abandoned asnthe costs had now exceeded £17,000, in addition to £6,000 of Babbage’s ownnmoney. This did not take into account the improvements made in both tools andnmethods, the benefits of which far outweighed the costs already expended. 

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nThenAnalytical Engine was intended to use two sets of punched cards, similar tonthose used in Jacquard weaving looms, one set to work upon ‘variables’ and thenother to work upon ‘operations’, allowing the machine to be ‘programmed’,nrather than simply being a dedicated calculator. These machines have since beennconstructed, using Victorian tolerances, at the Science Museum and have beennfound to work perfectly. Charles Babbage went on to become Lucasian Professornof Mathematics at Cambridge (a post also held by Sir Isaac Newton and StephennHawking), although in eleven years he did not deliver any lectures, and henstood twice, unsuccessfully, as a parliamentary candidate. 

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nIn his latter years,nhe became an implacable foe of barrel organs; a public nuisance that hencalculated had cost him a quarter of his productive time during the last dozennyears of his life. He was opposed to any sort of street entertainment, andnproduced a table enumerating the worst offenders: – 

nAndnwith similar precision he enumerates the encouragers of street music as: – 

nHis efforts didnnot have the desired effect, as itinerant musicians were hired expressly tonplay in front of his house, crowds followed him whenever he went out to find anpoliceman, anonymous threatening letters were sent him, dead cats and othernoffensive things were thrown down his area, and his windows were repeatedlynbroken. Babbage was not alone in his hatred of barrel organs, as ThomasnCarlyle, author, historian and philosopher, had his house in Cheyne Walk,nChelsea, soundproofed against the nuisance – “The question arises, Whethernto go out and, if not assassinate him, call the Police upon him, or to takenmyself away to the bath-tub and the other side of the house?” Dickensnrailed against them and started a petition to have them banned, which wasnsigned by Tennyson, Carlyle and Millais, amongst others. 

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nJohn Leech, cartoonistnfor Punch, was particularly troubled by the noise of barrel organs, andnwrote to his friend and biographer, the painter William Powell Frith, in 1864,nlamenting, “Rather, Frith, than continue to be tormented in this way, Inwould prefer to go to the grave where there is no noise”. He died within anweek, done to death by organ grinders. 

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nCharles Babbage died in 1871, from renalnfailure secondary to cystitis, aged 80. His brain was removed and kept at thenHunterian Museum, Royal College of Surgeons; in 1908, Sir Victor Horsley,npresented a descriptive paper on the brain and published an illustrated editionnof his paper.

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n*  Ligyrophobia – The fear of noise.