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Mr. Babbage, the difference engine, and the problem of notation

1981; Elsevier BV; Volume: 19; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0020-7225(81)90158-0

1879-2197

Ole Immanuel Franksen,

History and Theory of Mathematics

Contrary to the opinion of Lady Lovelace and others the origin of programmed conditionals and recursiveness may be traced back to the Difference Engine of Charles Babbage. To prove this is the aim of the present inquiry which is supported by contemporary quotations, based on a rather extensive historical research, and by computational experiments performed on an interactive simulation model in APL of the Difference Engine. It is attempted in the article to document the use of APL in such a manner that the few figures of particular interest for readers knowlegeable of APL, may be skipped without any general loss of meaning by the common reader.