Charles Babbage was an British inventor and mathematician,
who designed and built mechanical computing machines
on principles that anticipated the modern electronic
computer. Babbage was born in Teignmouth, Devonshire,
and was educated at the University of Cambridge.
Charles became a fellow of the Royal Society in
1816 and was active in the founding of the Royal
Astronomical, the Analytical, and the Statistical
societies.
In the early 1800's Charles began developing a
mechanical device that can perform simple mathematical
calculations called a Difference Engine. As the
building began there was a problem, he was unable
to complete it because of a lack of funding
After following Babbage's detailed drawings and specifications
in 1991, British scientists constructed the Difference
Engine.
The machine works flawlessly, proving that Babbage's
design was sound. Calculating up to a precision of
31 digits.
Babbage began developing his Analytical Engine in
the 1830's, which was designed to carry out more complicated
calculations, but the device was never built. Charles'
book Economy of Machines and Manufactures initiated
the field of study currently known as operational
research.
The Difference Engine was able to compute mathematical
tables and considered by many to be a direct forerunner
of the modern computer. Designed by Charles Babbage
in the 1820' s, this woodcut shows a small portion
of the ingenious machine. Although the device did
not have a memory, Charles' later idea for the Analytical
Engine would have been a true, programmable computer
if the technology of his time had been advanced like
today..
