Charles Babbage & the Countess of Lovelace

No, the above is not a soap opera. Babbage was an English mathematician and inventor and the Countess of Lovelace was Ada Byron, daughter of Lord Byron, the famous poet. What do these two have to do with computers? A great deal...

Babbage is often thought of as being the father of computers because of his inventions. Ada is usually considered to be the first computer programmer because of her analyses and explanations of Babbage's work. A computer language was named after her in recent times.

Charles Babbage Institute

What Babbage did to achieve such fame is develop the ideas for two "engines," or mechanical calculators.

The Difference Engine

A common method of solving polynomial equations is by what is called the method of differences. This method is a technique for calculating consistent numerical progressions using repeated subtractions or additions: a perfect task for a computer to perform.

The Analytical Engine

Designed to be a general purpose computing device.

Sketch of the Analytical Engine

Neither machine was produced. Some believe the tooling of the day was not good enough, others think it was politics.

Babbage's Contribution

While never built, Babbage's detailed designs contained within them the heart of modern-day computers. The Analytical Engine, in particular, was designed with five parts common to today's computers:

• An input device. Borrowing an idea from textile mills, a form of punched cards were the input.
• A processor (calculator). A mill containing hundreds of vertical axles and thousands of gears, 10 feet tall.
• The control unit. A barrel-like device with slats and studs, operating like a complex player piano.
• Storage. The store, containing more axles and gears. This device could hold 100 40-digit numbers.
• An output device. Plates designed to fit in a printing press.

Herman Hollerith