€29.90
As seen in Douglas Adams’ masterpiece
A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or in Isaac Asimov’s
The Last Question, computers, given enough time, might be able to solve every question. Not always will two words “Fiat Lux” be the outcome of their research, nor the answer to life, the universe and everything, however, arguments are made that computers might technically be able to give the solution to chess problems, yet lack what a human would be able to understand: the knowledge about similar ideas shown before. No twomover ever was really solved by a computer in that way (sadly I forgot who wrote such idea many years ago, I apologize for not being able to attribute it).
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In 1834, Babbage proposed a more complex machine, his âanalytical engineâ. It used 50 digit numbers (50 cog wheels per number) on 2.5m diameter ring gears. Unlike his earlier designs it also had a memory system which could hold up to 1,000 numbers and, if constructed, would have been 150m long. Unlike his more limited âdifference engineâ, it could solve any computation problem.
Inspired by the patterns programmable by punched cards in Jacquardâs fabric loom of 1801, Babbage used punched cards to direct his machine. Ada Lovelace, now recognised as the worldâs first computer programmer, wrote of Babbageâs machine: âWe may say most aptly that the analytical engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leavesâ. He spent the rest of his life trying to raise funds for his invention, building a number of partial prototypes.