Charles Babbage and his idea of the computer

1. The first suggestion that a machine for mathematical computation could be built was made more than a hundred years ago by the mathematician Charles Babbage. We now realize that he understood clearly all the fundamental principles of modem digital computers.

2. Babbage was born in Devonshire, England, in 1972. He did not receive a good education, but he taught himself mathematics so well that when he went to Cambridge he found that he knew more algebra than his tutor. At that time mathe­matics in Cambridge was still under the influence of Newton and was quite unaf­fected by the contemporary developments on the continent.

3. Babbage was outstanding among his contemporaries because he insisted _ч. on the practical application of science and mathematics. In 1812 he was sitting in his room looking at a table of logarithms which he knew to be full of mistakes when an idea occurred to him of computing all tabular functions by machinery. Babbage constructed a small working model which he demonstrated in 1822. The Royal Society supported the project and Babbage was promised a subsidy.

4. In 1833 he began to think of building a machine which was, in fact, the first universal digital computer, as the expression is understood today. Babbage devoted the rest of his life to an attempt to develop it. He had to finance the whole of the work himself, and he was only able to finish part of the machine though he prepared thousands of detailed drawings from which it could be made.

5. Babbage wrote more than eighty books and papers but he was misunder­stood by his contemporaries and died a dissappointed man in 1871. He tried to solve by himself and with his own resources a series of problems which in the end required the united efforts of two generations of engineers. After his death his son continued his work and built part of an arithmetic unit, which printed out its results directly on paper.

Задание 9. Ответьте на вопрос письменно на английском языке. Why did Charles Babbage die a dissapointed man and who continued his work?

Задание 10. Составьте 4 вопроса разного типа к предложению. Babbage wanted to build a machine for mathematical computation.

Задание 11. Прочитайте и переведите письменно текст.

Ceramics

Ceramics is an applied science dealing with the preparation and application of a great number of organic chemicals. Until recently ceramic materials were pri­marily silicate - bearing compounds. Now they include oxides, graphite, carbides, borides, silicides, nitrides, and systems compounded of these groups. Typical ce­ramic products are pottery, porcelain, enamels, refractories, glass, insulators, ce­ment, bricks and building materials, abrasives, clay being still the basis of most commercial ceramic products.

Ceramic products are usually man-made, a number of ceramic products ex­isting in a natural state, e.g. diamond, graphite, mica and marble. Ceramic products can be classified by the method of preparation into two groups: sintered and fused.

Silica (SiO2) is the main ingredient of most ceramic products. Its most common form is quartz. Kaolin or clay minerals are compounds of silica and other metal oxides, particularly aluminum and magnesium, and are used in pottery manufacture. Mica minerals also consist of complex silicates. Mica is used as an insulator in electrical and electronic equipment.

An extensive technology is now developing around newer ceramics, oxides having great potential because of their resistance to high temperatures and their electrical properties. Graphite because of its high melting point and high tempera­ture strength, is finding wide-spread use in rocket building.

Задание 12. Исправьте предложения на основе текста.

1. Graphite is finding wide-spread use in aluminium.

2. Oxides are the main ingredient of most ceramic products.

3. Its most common form is liquid.

Задание 13. Переведите письменно на английский язык, используя текст.

1. Их характерная форма в кварцах.

2. Высокие технологии развиваются вокруг керамики.

3. Керамические изделия могут быть использованы в строительстве.