If John von Neumann is the father of modern computing, then the English
mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage can be considered its grandfather.
Babbage designed, though never built, a Difference Engine and an Analytical
Engine, the world's first computing machines.
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| What is Charles Babbage |
Babbage worked as a mathematician in Cambridge University where he received
his MA in 1817 and later, like Newton, whose mathematical principles he
espoused, occupied the Lucasian chair in mathematics. As a scientist, Babbage
was obsessed with facts and statistics and lived in a rationalistic world where
it was assumed that if all facts, past and present, could be known then all
future events were determinable. His statistical publications include "Table of
the Relative Frequency of the Causes of Breaking of Plate Glass Windows" and
"Table of Constants of the Class Mammalia," the minutiae of which included the
heart rate of the pig. Babbage founded the Statistical Society in 1834.
A prolific disseminator of ideas and an eclectic inventor, Babbage's varied
range of inventions reflected the diversity of his interests. Fascinated by the
railroad, which was invented in his native England in 1823, Babbage devised a
standard rail gauge width as well as a cowcatcher (for the front of trains). He
also recorded inventions related to lighthouse signalling, code breaking, and
the postal system. He founded the British Association for the Advancement of
Science and the (Royal) Astronomical Society.
Although remembered today primarily for his calculating engines, Babbage left
a legacy in the fields of political theory (he was an ardent industrialist) and
operations research (where his 1832 publication, "On the Economy of
Manufactures," cataloged the manufacturing processes of the day).
Charles Babbage died in London on October 18, 1871.
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