QuotesCosmos
Babbage in November 1839, recalling events in 1821; quoted in Harry Wilmot Buxton and Anthony Hyman (1988), Memoir of the Life and Labours of the Late Charles Babbage. "Computers" here refers to people calculating by hand.
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Mr. Herschel ... brought with him the calculations of the computers, and we commenced the tedious process of verification. After a time many discrepancies occurred, and at one point these discordances were so numerous that I exclaimed, "I wish to God these calculations had been executed by steam," to which Herschel replied, "It is quite possible."

— Báb on Charles Babbage

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Mr. Herschel ... brought with him the calculations of the computers, and we commenced the tedious process of verification. After a time many discrepancies occurred, and at one point these discordances were so numerous that I exclaimed, "I wish to God these calculations had been executed by steam," to which Herschel replied, "It is quite possible."" in the context of "Babbage in November 1839, recalling events in 1821; quoted in Harry Wilmot Buxton and Anthony Hyman (1988), Memoir of the Life and Labours of the Late Charles Babbage. "Computers" here refers to people calculating by hand." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Charles Babbage" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

Tags

#Báb#calculations#herschel#discrepancies#verification#discordances#computers#commenced#exclaimed#occurred#numerous#executed
Báb

About Báb

The Báb باب‎ Siyyid `Alí Muhammad سيد علی ‌محمد‎ (20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850) the founder of Bábism, was a merchant from Shiraz, Persia, who at the age of twenty-four claimed to be a new and independent Manifestation of God and the promised Qá'im (or Mahdí). After his declaration he took on the title of the Báb meaning the "Gateway", by which he is primarily known. Several years after the Báb's execution by firing squad Bahá'u'lláh claimed to fulfill his prophecy of "He whom God shall make manifest " and founded the Bahá'í Faith.