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Charles Babbage

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Mathematician

The Resume

    (December 26, 1791-October 18, 1871)
    Known as the Father of Computing
    Quoted: 'The whole of arithmetic now appeared within the grasp of mechanism'
    Namesake of the GameStop owned computer store Babbages

Why he might be annoying:

    He was the top mathematician at college, yet failed to graduate with honors, receiving an honorary degree without exam (1814).
    Though he was an expert at 'breaking encryption,' he said: 'crypt analysis is one of the most fascinating of arts, and I fear I have wasted upon it more time than it deserves.'
    He was sarcastic. When asked by members of Parliament if the right answers come out if the wrong figures were put into his invention, he stated: 'I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.'
    His funding for an improved invention, 'Difference Engine 2,' was cut and the machine was never finished.
    A completed version of his 'Analytical Engine' invention, again due to lack of funding, was not built in his lifetime.
    He became more eccentric in his later years.
    He tried to get street musicians banned, a move so unpopular that people badgered him in the street, threw dead cats at him and threatened his life.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was a sickly child.
    He was elected to the Royal Society of London at the age of 24.
    In the early 1820s, he invented the 'Difference Engine,' a device that could perform mathematical calculations to twenty decimals.
    He won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society 'for his invention of an engine for calculating mathematical and astronomical tables' (1824).
    When accepting the award, the speaker introduced him as 'George BAGGAGE.'
    Years later, he invented the the 'Analytical Engine,' a forerunner of the modern digital computer.
    His father, his wife of 13 years and his newborn son all died within a year of each other (1827).
    He invented the 'cow-catcher,' the metal frame attached to the front of locomotives (1838).
    Only three of his eight children lived to adulthood.
    He became an expert on factories and their productions.
    A book he had written was said to have influenced Karl Marx.

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 15 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 29 Votes: 51.72% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 27 Votes: 51.85% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 14 Votes: 21.43% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 22 Votes: 36.36% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 70 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 74 Votes: 39.19% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 44 Votes: 36.36% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 105 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 140 Votes: 45.00% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 320 Votes: 46.56% Annoying