Chapter 328: Enemies are extremely jealous when they meet (7.4K)
"I'm a fool! You traitor! Do you still have the nerve to show up here?!"
These angry words exploded suddenly like Deidara's bomb, instantly silencing the originally noisy booth.
Including Sissoko.
Xu Yun and everyone turned their heads at the same time and looked at the place where the sound came from.
At this moment.
At the booth about ten meters away from them, several people were divided into two camps with clear attitudes, and they were confronting each other in a tense manner.
There are five people on the right and three on the left.
The angry voice above came from one of the three people on the left, but after seeing their faces clearly, Xiaomai subconsciously shouted:
"Huh? Are they Mr. Babbage and Ms. Ada?"
In fact, Xu Yun and others also discovered the other party’s identity without Mai’s reminder:
At this moment, the most emotional person on the left speaking out was...
Charles Babbage!
No wonder Xu Yun felt that the voice sounded familiar.
This little old man, whose name is exactly the same as that of the King of England in 2022, was being blocked by Earl Lovelace and Ada at the same time, looking at someone with blazing eyes.
Opposite him, on the right side as everyone looked, stood six men of different ages.
The one at the front is a man who is older than Babbage.
This man was wearing a British gentleman's hat, holding a cane in his hand, and wearing a distinctive red plaid tie on his chest.
It is clear.
He is the protagonist who was madly exported by Babbage.
However, Xu Yun's eyes only stayed on this person for half a second, and then he was attracted by another person behind him:
It was a middle-aged man with short blond hair. His appearance was pretty good, but his eyes were a little fierce.
This was also the second time Xu Yun met the other party after the interview meeting with the Cambridge Apostolic Society.
That's right.
This person was apparently the one who insulted Xu Yun wildly at the Apostolic Society, and was eventually beaten to the head by Aveline with a plate...
Harvey Clement!
Well, wait!
Clement?
After thinking of the other person's name.
A few guesses flashed through Xu Yun's mind, and he turned to Aveline and Lao Tang and said:
"Mr. Thomson, classmate Aveline, let's go take a look first."
"After all...after all, Countess Lovelace's health is not very good. It would be terrible if something happens to her."
Aveline and Lao Tang nodded at the same time.
This is the exhibition stand of Oxford University. The little old man who had a quarrel with Babbage was either a professor at Oxford or a partner. Xu Yun and the others would definitely suffer if there was a quarrel.
Therefore, using Ada as the entry point is the most appropriate choice, which can at least try to ensure that Oxford will not be one-sided in favor of the other party.
No matter how courageous Sissoko and the others were, they would not dare to attack a countess - even if her husband was an unusually promoted count.
Then, including Sissoko, the group walked quickly towards Babbage's location.
"Mr. Babbage."
After coming to Babbage's side.
Xu Yun, Lao Tang, and Xiaomai quickly blocked Babbage's sides, while Aveline held Ada's hand:
"Are you guys okay?"
The sudden appearance of 'reinforcements' made Babbage a little surprised, but after seeing clearly that the person coming was Xu Yun, his eyes suddenly lit up and he grabbed Xu Yun's arm:
"Classmate Luo Feng!"
Xu Yun clapped his hand, nodded to Ada and Earl Lovelace, and then said to Babbage:
"Mr. Babbage, what happened?"
When Babbage heard this, he tightened his hold on Xu Yun's hand and looked aside angrily:
"Classmate Luo Feng, look at this! It's so shameless!"
Xu Yun took advantage of the situation and looked around.
I only see this moment.
In an open area about ten meters away from them, there was a huge piece of equipment.
The equipment is made entirely of copper, and its main body consists of four cylinders one and a half meters high and about forty centimeters in diameter.
These columns are composed of stacked gears, which look somewhat similar to the Turkish barbecue of later generations.
There are several buttons on the side of the cylinder, and a small opening similar to the output port of a fax machine for outputting results.
In addition, Xu Yun also saw a steam engine, which was closely connected to the equipment and was obviously used to provide power.
A few seconds later.
Mai could not help but whisper:
"This...isn't this the difference engine you designed, Mr. Babbage? Why does it appear here?"
Babbage nodded heavily, and once again locked his eyes on the little old man opposite. The expression on his face was as ferocious as Haaland's after scoring a goal:
"You have to ask Mr. Joseph Clement about this. This is a shameless betrayal!"
"That's enough, Charles!"
Hear what Babbage said.
The little old man named Joseph Clement couldn't help snorting, and hammered the floor heavily with his cane:
"Charles, the matter between you and me has been decided for a long time. This is a judgment made by the British Supreme Court, which represents the will of the empire!"
"Some things can't be changed even if you say them a thousand times!"
"Today you and I meet as old friends. I wanted to laugh away our grudges, but I didn't expect that Charles you are still so stubborn..."
"Fuck you! It's obvious that you shamelessly deceived me into trusting me!"
Babbage's face once again had an unhealthy redness, and Xu Yun felt that his body was trembling:
"When I gave you all my funds and devoted myself to drawing design, what did you do?"
Babbage's anger seems to have turned into substance, and when placed in the Dragon Balls, he can transform into Super Saiyan II.
Xu Yun held Babbage's hand tightly to prevent him from getting angry, and at the same time he understood the cause and effect in his heart.
Mentioned earlier.
The difference engine designed by Babbage and Ada was unsuccessful for two main reasons.
Firstly, it was because his thinking was advanced, far beyond the understanding of the times.
One step ahead is a genius, three steps ahead is a madman.
Secondly, it's because of one person's reaction.
This man is Babbage's most trusted engineer, and he is also the little old man standing in front of him...
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Joseph Clement.
The feud between Clement and Babbage occurred in 1824, which was when Babbage first proposed the concept of the difference engine.
At that time, the British Treasury funded Babbage with 1,500 pounds, allowing him to start building a full-scale difference engine.
Babbage's Difference Engine required high-precision equipment, and the manufacturing process at the time was far from meeting Babbage's requirements.
So he hired Joseph Clement to assist and asked Clement to make tools that could produce parts for the difference engine.
Joseph Clement was one of the top engineers at the time. Putting aside what happened later and talking about his ability alone, Joseph Clement was indeed a very strong partner.
For example, he had an apprentice named Joseph Whitworth, who later became the inventor of the length measuring machine and the gear hobbing machine.
According to the functional division of Babbage and Joseph Clement at that time, the steps in the production process were as follows:
Babbage first designed a module of the Difference Engine, and then designed and built the tools to produce the module.
This part of the funds all passed through Clement's hands - he used the funds to equip thousands of pounds worth of mechanical tools, which were designed by Babbage and built with government investment.
But according to the law, these funds were used to upgrade Clement's equipment, so the funds are Clement's property.
It's like A designs a schematic diagram of a gear, B casts the mold for the gear, and then produces the gear.
The gear will naturally return to A in the end, but the owner of the mold is B, that is, Joseph Clement.
So in 1834.
Clement finally jumped back:
He refused to work for Babbage anymore and withheld the drawings and parts.
He also countersued Babbage and the British government, and ultimately successfully won the case.
Joseph Clement's knife directly penetrated Babbage's vital part, almost turning Babbage into Makoto Ito.
From now on.
The British government gave up investment in the Difference Engine, and it was difficult to coordinate even if Faraday came forward.
In fact, this cannot be entirely blamed on the British government's short-sightedness. After all, they gave Babbage a chance in the early days.
For the British government, the capital side, they understand the conflicts within the entrepreneurial partners, but they cannot empathize with them - after all, the essence is to lose money.
Besides, from the perspective of the British government, who knows whether the two of them were acting to defraud investors?
This kind of thing is not uncommon, whether it is 1850 or 2022.
all in all.
After this knife.
Babbage's whole body was severely damaged, just like Cao Cao who defeated Chibi. He would never be able to complete the great cause of unification in this life.
In the later generations of Xu Yun's time travel, there is a common view in related industries:
A large part of the reason why Babbage was unable to produce the Difference Engine was because of Joseph Clement's jump reaction.
This rebound directly caused Babbage to spend a lot of time raising investment, and was rarely able to actually work.
Otherwise, with the design plan left by Babbage, the Analytical Engine may still be a bit difficult, but the possibility of the Difference Engine coming out is very high.
Look at this posture now...
Joseph Clement should have gone to Oxford University with drawings and equipment, and designed such a difference engine using Babbage's principles?
That's why Babbage became extremely angry after seeing this device.
In a sense.
This should be considered a tauren act.
Xu Yun then glanced at Harvey Clement behind Joseph Clement - the middle-aged man he saw at the Apostolic Society dinner and the second president of the Apostolic Society.
Judging from the name, age and position...
Harvey Clement was either the son of Joseph Clement or a relative such as a nephew.
At the same time, a member of the Apostolic Society of Cambridge University appeared on the Oxford stand, which clearly explained one thing:
Harvey Clement had fully embraced the Whig Party.
At this moment.
Harvey Clement was staring at Xu Yun with an angry target, obviously thinking of the punch at the Apostolic Society dinner.
Sissoko Hooker and Aveline, Harvey Clement and Xu Yun, Joseph Clement and Babbage...
Six people and two camps can form a 3V3 in Twisted Forest...
Seeing that there are more and more melon-eating parties around, Sissoko, who is responsible for the management of the booth, gradually feels the pressure.
In addition, his confidence was hit twice by Riemann and Kirchhoff, and the descendant of Hook could not help but become a little impatient at this time.
He frowned and glanced at Babbage. He ignored the little old man and asked Aveline directly:
"Aveline, are you here to visit the exhibition or are you here to cause trouble? Isn't Cambridge University even able to show basic respect now?"
Aveline glanced at him coldly:
"Sissoko, don't even think about blaming us. Since you are the person in charge of the exhibition at Oxford University today, you must know what happened at the time. Do you think Oxford will take the blame if there is a riot?"
After saying that, she ignored Sissoko, turned around and said to Babbage and Ada:
"Mr. Babbage, Mrs. Ada, I understand your mood very well. As a Cambridge student, I am not afraid of confronting the Oxford group."
"But after all, this is an exposition organized by His Majesty Albert, which represents the image of the royal family and even the entire empire, so you see..."
Although Babbage's chest was still rising and falling at this time, his whole body was much calmer than before. Hearing this, he took a deep breath and said:
"I understand, thank you, Aveline."
Then he turned his head, stared at Joseph Clement for a few seconds, and suddenly said:
"Clement, since you moved this equipment to the exhibition site, you shouldn't refuse outsiders to visit it, right?"
Joseph Clement was stunned when he heard this. After he came to his senses, his pupils shrank slightly and he nodded heavily:
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Of course, anyone can visit this equipment as long as it does not interfere with the exhibition."
After speaking, Joseph Clement secretly glanced at Babbage. When he found that he had made no further movements, he felt relieved again and turned to look around:
"Gentlemen and ladies, my name is Joseph Clement."
"There was a little accident just now for some reasons, but it doesn't matter."
"On today's occasion, I would like to introduce to you a machine that is destined to change the world - the calculus!"
After Joseph Clement finished speaking.
A disdainful snort from Babbage came to Xu Yun's ears, but other than that, he showed no other expression.
Then Joseph Clement walked to the machine aside, motioned for Harvey Clement to come forward, and continued:
"Introduction, this is your son, Harvey Clement. Next, he will assist me in demonstrating the functions of this machine."
"But before that, I want to ask you a question, what is one plus one?"
A person who had been placed in the crowd by Oxford University in advance raised his hand:
"2!"
Joseph Clement nodded and gave a thumbs up:
"Thank you sir for your cooperation. The answer is absolutely correct."
"As you can see, one plus one is a very simple math problem, so we know the answer is 2 by doing mental math."
“But what if it’s more complicated?”
"For example, the empire collected 227,371,24.76 pounds in taxes from India in January this year, and 37,215,073.11 pounds in February. So how much does it add up to in the two months?"
"What about a quarter, half a year, or a year?"
"And what about the other colonies?"
When Joseph Clement saw this, he spread his hands and said:
"Such a complex problem requires the use of pen calculations, but if the numbers become larger and larger, and there are more and more names, problems may arise in pen calculations."
Someone at the scene nodded.
Due to the quota limit for the opening ceremony, there were basically no poor people who could visit the expo on the first day, either rich or wealthy.
These middle- and upper-class people have access to many situations involving complex numbers, and naturally know how terrible the British error rate is in this regard.
In fact, the direct reason why Babbage came up with the inspiration for the Difference Engine was the large amount of erroneous data he saw in books.
Seeing that the atmosphere was almost heightened, Joseph Clement's voice suddenly rose a little higher:
"And today, I want to announce something to everyone!"
"The computer we are showing can perfectly replace human power and perform complex numerical calculations!"
"Harvey, come give them the whole job!"
Harvey Clement on the side nodded.
I saw him walking into the audience with two whiteboards and randomly selecting two people:
"Gentlemen, could you please write down a set of twelve digits on a piece of paper?"
The two spectators obeyed obediently.
After finishing.
Harvey Clement returned to Joseph Clement with two whiteboards and handed them to his father.
The two whispered a few words, and Harvey Clement walked behind the machine again and started the steam engine.
Gudu Gudu——
The boiler on the other side began to slowly smoke, and the turntable also made a slow sound.
A few minutes passed.
Confirm that the power is almost ready.
Harvey Clement lost numbers on the console.
Joseph Clement held up the whiteboard and announced the two numbers to the public:
"331283947654,593882931202."
Each time Harvey Clement entered a number, a small hammer on the device struck.
The turntable with the pointer stuck on it will rotate the corresponding number of times and make a clicking sound.
People these days had never seen such a machine, so when Harvey Clement operated it, everyone held their breath for fear of disturbing him.
Even Babbage and Ada were like this - after all, this was the first time they had seen a physical demonstration of the Difference Engine.
They had a grudge against Clement and his son, but the Difference Engine was innocent, and could even be said to be the product of their hard work.
For a while.
You can hear the needle drop at the scene.
after awhile.
Da da da--
A small piece of paper similar to a dotting timer tape emerged from the left end of the instrument little by little.
Harvey Clement took it off, looked at it for a few times, and then showed it to the outside world:
"The answer is 925166878856."
Someone at the scene had already calculated the answer using calculation paper, so after verifying that the two numbers were exactly the same, the scene suddenly erupted into huge applause and cheers.
Again.
The audience at the scene were either rich or noble. Some of them might be so bad that they would ooze pus, but they were by no means stupid.
The calculation time of the computer is longer than that of the written calculation, but this is just the addition of a twelve-digit number.
If the number of words continues to increase, the time difference between the two will shrink.
At the same time, the error rate of the former will remain unchanged, but the error rate of the latter will soar.
And amidst the praises of everyone, a somewhat silly voice suddenly sounded in Joseph Clement's ears:
"Mr. Clement, can this device of yours calculate multiplication and division?"
Since there were many people coming up to congratulate him, Joseph Clement could not divert his gaze for a while, so he subconsciously replied:
"Multiplication and division? Of course, our device can calculate any multiplication and division within seven digits."
The voice asked again:
"Seven digits? Can't twenty digits work?"
Joseph Clement shook his head quickly:
"Twenty-digit multiplication and division? Of course it won't work."
"With all due respect, this is beyond the capabilities of me and the University of Oxford. This is absolutely impossible."
Joseph Clement's words were categorical and left no room for retreat.
A few seconds later.
In his ears came a new reply with the same tone as before, but obviously full of disappointment: