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

1. Step 1. Grenade — is made of — Clay. Medieval grenades were ceramic vessels.
2. Step 2. Clay — is material for — Movable type. Bi Sheng’s type was made of fired clay.
3. Step 3. Movable type — is part of — Gutenberg printing press. Text is set from metal type.
4. Step 4. Gutenberg printing press — works like — Jacquard loom. An analogy, not proven influence: both set type and a chain of punched cards are a replaceable pattern that a machine reproduces over and over.
5. Step 5. 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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