Board game and Babbage’s Analytical Engine: what they have in common

1. Step 1. Board game — uses — Dice. Dice.
2. Step 2. Dice — evolved into — Probability theory. Problems about games of dice (Pascal, Fermat).
3. Step 3. Probability theory — is used in — Statistics. Probabilistic foundations.
4. Step 4. Statistics — uses — Hollerith tabulator. Processing censuses.
5. Step 5. Hollerith tabulator — uses — Punched card. The 1890 census data was encoded on punched cards.
6. Step 6. Punched card — is used in — Babbage’s Analytical Engine. Operations and numbers were entered on punched cards.

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