Never heard of Babbage but found this info after searching with Google: "[Babbage's] other inventions: The cowcatcher, dynamometer, standard railroad gauge, uniform postal rates, occulting lights for lighthouses, Greenwich time signals, heliograph opthalmoscope. He also had an interest in cyphers and lock-picking, but abhorred street musicians."
Could you explain the point of the quote? I'm a little slow today. Made me think of economist/talking head Larry Kudlow thoughts on deregulation in California, i.e.:
horrible mess caused by deregulation [wrong figures] = [translates in Larry's mind to] = not enough deregulation [right answer]