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I mentioned a few days ago that I visited the London Science Museum and
saw half of Babbage's brain in a pickling jar.
Well, I just found out where the other half is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbage
"Half of Babbage's brain is preserved at the Hunterian Museum in the
Royal College of Surgeons in London."
Now, I wonder which museum has the logical, analytical half of his
brain? ;-)
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4acdf205$1@news.povray.org...
>I mentioned a few days ago that I visited the London Science Museum and saw
>half of Babbage's brain in a pickling jar.
>
> Well, I just found out where the other half is:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babbage
>
> "Half of Babbage's brain is preserved at the Hunterian Museum in the Royal
> College of Surgeons in London."
>
> Now, I wonder which museum has the logical, analytical half of his brain?
> ;-)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/head_first_only/3776072152/
It looks like the left half (IIRC the analytical one) is at the London
Science Museum
A quote from the wikipedia article :
a.. Babbage once contacted the poet Alfred Tennyson in response to his
poem "The Vision of Sin". Babbage wrote, "In your otherwise beautiful poem,
one verse reads,
Every moment dies a man,
Every moment one is born.
... If this were true, the population of the world would be at a
standstill. In truth, the rate of birth is slightly in excess of that of
death. I would suggest [that the next version of your poem should read]:
Every moment dies a man,
Every moment 1 1/16 is born.
Strictly speaking, the actual figure is so long I cannot get it into a
line, but I believe the figure 1 1/16 will be sufficiently accurate for
poetry."
ROTFL it inspired T. Pratchett ? :D
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>> Now, I wonder which museum has the logical, analytical half of his brain?
>> ;-)
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/head_first_only/3776072152/
> It looks like the left half (IIRC the analytical one) is at the London
> Science Museum.
...which would make sense, given that mathematics and logic are what
he's famous for. And the jar is sitting next to a reconstructed model of
his Difference Engine.
> ROTFL it inspired T. Pratchett ? :D
Could be. He was a crazy Victorian inventor, after all...
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