I like his name. Charles Babbage. It reminds me of Dustin Hoffman’s character in Rain Man when he keeps repeating his brother’s name, “Charlie Babbit.” Also, Charles Babbage reminds me of cabbage for obvious reasons. And I like cabbage.
Babbage. As a result of his life, we can pay our electric bill while we are riding in a car, where the navigation system guides us along as we go to our friend in the hospital, who currently is having her blood pressure monitored by an automatic sensor on her arm.
Or something like that. Because. All of those processes require computers. And our dear Charles Babbage, born December 26, 1791 — a mathematician, philosopher, inventor, and engineer — originated the concept of the digital programmable computer. He is widely known as the “father of the computer.”
Good Chuck Babbage came up with the first mechanical computer, which he called the Difference Engine. His work on this started in 1822. Yes. 1822.
But enough about his work on computers. It truly was astounding, but in addition to his fascination with mathematics and engineering, he had a curiosity about the occult. I first took notice of him when I was researching “The Ghost Club” for one of my books.
I found it interesting that starting from an early age, Babbage wondered if the existence of God and paranormal phenomena could be proven scientifically. As a young boy, he thought a good place to start in his experiments to prove this would be by trying to summon the Devil.
So, he asked the boys in his class to find out what sorts of things he should do to call out the Devil. Collectively, they decided that if certain procedures were followed, one of the following items would be certain to appear if the Prince of Darkness was near.
These things included a rabbit, an owl, a black cat (this one was prime), a raven, and a man with a cloven foot (also a significant sign of the Devil being present). I mean. A cloven foot. That’s creepy.
He’d heard of people making pacts with the Devil, in which they were given great wealth in this life, but of course, after dying, they were eternally damned to the terrors of hell. Little Charles wanted no part in making a pact. His only wish was to interview the Devil to prove his existence.
His experiment. One night, he went up into the attic of an abandoned building. He opened the only window there, and then, carefully, he slit open his finger. He proceeded to draw a circle with his own blood on the floor — a circle large enough for him to stand in. Standing therein, he read The Lord’s Prayer backward. Then he waited for the Devil to appear in the form of a black cat, or an owl, or a raven, and so on.
Nadda.
This failure to conjure up the Prince of Darkness planted some doubt in the young Babbage’s mind where religion was concerned. But he continued putting the question of God to little tests.
By the time he got to Cambridge’s Trinity College, he developed a tight-knit circle of friends who, like Babbage, were interested in the subject of ghosts. So they formed a Ghost Club to investigate paranormal phenomena from an academic perspective.
So. There he was. I think the reason I like Babbage so much in this is that he welcomed possibilities. A man of science, he realized that the Universe is both an infinite and complex place. A place we know little about. And with that, the possibilities become endless.
We should see the world with wonder because something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable is probably out there, just waiting for us to have eyes to see.
=====
“Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.”
— Neil Armstrong
=====
“Wonder rather than doubt is the root of all knowledge.”
— Abraham Joshua Heschel
======
“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead. His eyes are closed.”
— Albert Einstein
=====
From computers to the Devil. They may be related.
