ENGLISH

On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures

By Charles Babbage

Book information

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Year
2010
ISBN
9780511696374, 9781108009102
DOI
10.1017/CBO9780511696374
Google Books ID
Qi0RQwAACAAJ
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
4 MB (4718036 bytes)
Series
Cambridge Library Collection - Printing and Publishing History
Pages
343\343
Orientation
yes
Scanned
yes
Time added
2011-08-31 04:54:40

Description

In this famous book, first published in 1832, Charles Babbage (1791-1871), the mathematician, philosopher, engineer and inventor who originated the concept of a programmable computer, surveys manufacturing practices and discusses the political, moral and economic factors affecting them. The book met with hostility from the publishing industry on account of Babbage's analysis of the manufacture and sale of books. Babbage describes the many different printing processes of the time, analyses the costs of book production and explains the publication process, before discussing the 'too large' profit margins of booksellers. Babbage succeeded in his aim 'to avoid all technical terms, and to describe in concise language', making this an eminently readable historical account. His analysis and promotion of mechanisation and efficient 'division of labour' (still known as the 'Babbage principle') continue to resonate strongly for modern industrial engineering.

Similar books