On 3-7-2011 11:41, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>>> Question: When did electricity become common knowledge?
>>>
>> I would say early to mid 1800's ... 1800 Volta (battery) or ... 1831
>> Faraday (electric dynamo)
>
>  From what I can gather from Wikipedia, Babbage's Analytical Engine was
> 1837. It seems clear that at that data, some scientists at least were
> aware of the existence of electricity. But I can't find any word on when
> electricity came to be "useful", nor when it became "widely known".
>
> And, obviously, no mention on whether Babbage himself knew it existed. ;-)

Electricity as such he knew about, even if only as static electricity. 
At that point in time small efficient electromotors were not available, 
nor was there a distribution grid 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents). It would not have been a 
viable choice, even less than the gears.

IMHO asking about a connection of the analytic machine and electricity 
is as sensible as asking why the first combustion engines did not use a 
computer to adjust the timing. Something very wrong with the order of 
historic events. But I assume you asked because you didn't know the 
order of events.


-- 
Apparently you can afford your own dictator for less than 10 cents per 
citizen per day.

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