> Major-General H. P. Babbage remarked that what most interested him was the contrast between arithmetical calculating- machines and these integrators. In the f

> Major-General H. P. Babbage remarked that what most interested him was the contrast between arithmetical calculating- machines and these integrators. In the first there was absolute accuracy of result, and the same with all operators ; and there were mechanical means for correcting, to a certain extent, slackness of the machinery. Friction too had to be avoided. In the other instruments nearly all this was reversed, and it would seem that with the multiplication of reliable calculating machines, all except the simplest planimeters would become obsolete. [...] The author was obliged to express his disagreement with the opinion of General Babbage, that all integrators except the simplest planimeters would become obsolete and give place to arithmetical calculating machines. Continuous and discontinuous calculating machines, as they had respectively been called, had entirely different kinds of operations to perform, and there was a wide field for the employment of both. [...] No doubt the mechanical difficulties were great, but that they av ere not insuperable was proved by the daily use of the disk, globe, and cylinder of Professor James Thomson in connection with tidal calculations and meteorological work, and, indeed, this of itself was sufficient refutation of General Babbage's view. General Babbage is none other than Charles Babbage's son [1]. He's obviously not an unbiased observer. Still, history proved him right, digital computers took over the world, while analog ones like these mechanical integrators have become historical curiosities. [1] https://www.computerhistory.org/babbage/henrybabbage/ https://www.computerhistory.org/babbage/henrybabbage/