Cotton gin and Babbage’s Analytical Engine: what they have in common

1. Step 1. Cotton gin — has part — Crank. The drum was turned by a handle.
2. Step 2. Crank — is part of — Sewing machine. A crank turns rotation into the stroke of the needle.
3. Step 3. Sewing machine — has part — Cam. Cams drive the fabric feed.
4. Step 4. Cam — is part of — Automaton. Cams set the figures’ movements.
5. Step 5. Automaton — inspired — Jacquard loom. Vaucanson, the maker of automata, built an automatic loom whose ideas Jacquard used.
6. Step 6. Jacquard loom — inspired — Babbage’s Analytical Engine. Babbage borrowed Jacquard’s punched cards directly for entering operations and data; Ada Lovelace compared the machine to the Jacquard loom.

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