On two occasions I have been asked, 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.
Charles BabbageThe errors which arise from the absence of facts are far more numerous and more durable than those which result from unsound reasoning respecting true data.
Charles BabbageThe possessors of wealth can scarcely be indifferent to processes which, nearly or remotely have been the fertile source of their possessions.
Charles BabbageScientific knowledge scarcely exists amongst the higher classes of society. The discussion in the Houses of Lords or of Commons, which arise on the occurrence of any subjects connected with science, sufficiently prove this fact.
Charles Babbage