Tagged with Joseph-Marie Jacquard
Resource : Jacquard Loom
Before the 1800s, complex woven designs were created by hand. This was very labour-intensive. As a result, patterned fabric was extremely expensive. In 1804 Joseph-Marie Jacquard (1752 – 1834) developed the Jacquard Loom, which mechanised the production of patterned textiles. The loom contributed to the transformation of textile weaving from a ‘cottage industry’ run by close-knit families of skilled workers, to a focus of mass production on an industrial scale.
Resource : Difference Engine No.1 or ‘The Gem of all Mechanisms’
The Difference Engine aimed to mechanise the process of calculation. Composed of thousands of cogs, springs, brackets and other moving parts, it was designed to perform a multitude of calculations, as opposed to a single sum, surpassing anything that had gone before it. It was designed by Charles Babbage (1791-1871), who dreamed of creating an automatic, error-free, calculating machine. A machine, which today, would be recognised as a computer.
