Babbage’s Age of Speculation: Calculating the Value of Life After the Repeal of the Bubble Act

Edward Gillin ()
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Edward Gillin: Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, University College London

Chapter Chapter 10 in The Bubble Act, 2023, pp 221-241 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract The financial chaos of 1825 constituted a crisis of confidence for British audiences. But for Charles Babbage, this represented a brilliant moment to emphasise the virtues of automated calculation. Concerned with the life assurance industry, he seized on this opportunity to draw out the virtues of applied mathematical analysis for the calculation of human life and annuities. Here was a financial practice that he believed could be elevated above speculation through the application of mathematical calculation.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-31894-8_10

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