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

1. Step 1. Hand axe — is made of — Flint. Hand axes were flaked from flint on both sides.
2. Step 2. Flint — is material for — Flintlock. A flint strikes the spark.
3. Step 3. Flintlock — has part — Spring. A mainspring.
4. Step 4. Spring — is part of — Automaton. The mainspring stores the energy.
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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