The Ninth Bridgewater Treatise

Bibliographic Data

ID23779378
AuthorsCharles Babbage (corresponding author)
Year2009
Publication date2009-07-20
Open AccessYes
TypeBOOK
VenueThe ninth Bridgewater treatise (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherCambridge University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1017/cbo9780511700712
OpenAlexW630493833
ISBN9780511700712
LanguageEN
Citations received9

Charles Babbage (1791-1871) was an English mathematician, philosopher and mechanical engineer who invented the concept of a programmable computer. From 1828 to 1839 he was Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, a position whose holders have included Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking. A proponent of natural religion, he published The Ninth Bridgewater Treatise in 1837 as his personal response to The Bridgewater Treatises, a series of books on theology and science that had recently appeared. Disputing the claim that science disfavours religion, Babbage wrote 'that there exists no such fatal collision between the words of Scripture and the facts of nature'. He argues on the basis of reason and experience alone, drawing a parallel between his work on the calculating engine and God as the divine programmer of the universe. Eloquently written, and underpinned by mathematical arguments, The Ninth Bridgewater Treatise is a landmark work of natural theology.

Art · Art history · Epistemology · Natural (archaeology) · Ninth · Physics · Classics · Evolution and Science Education · History · Philosophy · Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life

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