Orchid XP v8 <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> Fact: Charles Babbage designed arguably the world's first ever
> Turing-complete machine. (75 years before Alan Turing was even born, I
> notice.)
>
> Question: When did electricity become common knowledge?

Btw, I'm sure you realize the two of them are unrelated to each other, right?
Babbage's machines were completely mechanical devices...

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On 02/07/2011 09:20 PM, nemesis wrote:
> Orchid XP v8<voi### [at] devnull>  wrote:
>> Fact: Charles Babbage designed arguably the world's first ever
>> Turing-complete machine. (75 years before Alan Turing was even born, I
>> notice.)
>>
>> Question: When did electricity become common knowledge?
>
> Btw, I'm sure you realize the two of them are unrelated to each other, right?
> Babbage's machines were completely mechanical devices...

...and you think I'm asking about this because...? :-P

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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On 2-7-2011 23:28, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> On 02/07/2011 09:20 PM, nemesis wrote:
>> Orchid XP v8<voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>>> Fact: Charles Babbage designed arguably the world's first ever
>>> Turing-complete machine. (75 years before Alan Turing was even born, I
>>> notice.)
>>>
>>> Question: When did electricity become common knowledge?
>>
>> Btw, I'm sure you realize the two of them are unrelated to each other,
>> right?
>> Babbage's machines were completely mechanical devices...
>
> ...and you think I'm asking about this because...? :-P
>

Because it was too long since you last asked something that you could 
find the answer to in under five minutes?


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

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On 07/02/2011 06:36 PM, andrel wrote:
> On 2-7-2011 23:28, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>> On 02/07/2011 09:20 PM, nemesis wrote:
>>> Orchid XP v8<voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
>>>> Fact: Charles Babbage designed arguably the world's first ever
>>>> Turing-complete machine. (75 years before Alan Turing was even born, I
>>>> notice.)
>>>>
>>>> Question: When did electricity become common knowledge?
>>>
>>> Btw, I'm sure you realize the two of them are unrelated to each other,
>>> right?
>>> Babbage's machines were completely mechanical devices...
>>
>> ...and you think I'm asking about this because...? :-P
>>
>
> Because it was too long since you last asked something that you could
> find the answer to in under five minutes?
>
>
LOL ... yeah I knew the names but was a bit fuzzy on the dates. Not even 
two minutes ;-)

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>> ...and you think I'm asking about this because...? :-P
>
> Because it was too long since you last asked something that you could
> find the answer to in under five minutes?

I spent half an hour on Wikipedia and couldn't really find the 
information I was looking for. I figured somebody here might know.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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>> 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. ;-)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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On 3-7-2011 11:39, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>>> ...and you think I'm asking about this because...? :-P
>>
>> Because it was too long since you last asked something that you could
>> find the answer to in under five minutes?
>
> I spent half an hour on Wikipedia and couldn't really find the
> information I was looking for. I figured somebody here might know.

Ah, yes, p.o-t as a meta-search engine, one of the best there is.


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

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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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>> I spent half an hour on Wikipedia and couldn't really find the
>> information I was looking for. I figured somebody here might know.
>
> Ah, yes, p.o-t as a meta-search engine, one of the best there is.

You know it's true. ;-)

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>> 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.

OK. Well that's essentially what I was asking.

Even more than whether it was "feasible", I was wondering whether it's 
an idea that anyone would have even thought of. Did people know enough 
about electricity to realise that you could use it to transmit information?

> 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.

Yeah. I vaguely gather that Babbage was a mad Victorian inventor. And 
I've heard the telegraph described as "the Victorian internet", so...

(When I first heard about the Analytical Engine, I had assumed it 
pre-dated the discovery of electricity, but clearly that isn't strictly 
true.)

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