Charles Babbage

KH FRS

Babbage in 1860

Born 26 December 1791

London, England

Died 18 October 1871 (aged 79)

Marylebone, London, England

Alma mater Peterhouse, Cambridge

Known for Difference engine

Spouse Georgiana Whitmore

​
​(m. 1814⁠–⁠1827)​

Children 8, including Benjamin Herschel Babbage

Relatives William Wolryche-Whitmore (brother-in-law)

Awards Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society

(1824)

Scientific career

Fields Mathematics, engineering, political economy,

computer science

Institutions Trinity College, Cambridge

Influences Robert Woodhouse, Gaspard Monge, John

Herschel
 Influenced Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill, Ada Lovelace

Signature

Babbage is considered by some t o be "fat her of t he comput er".[2][3][4][5] Babbage is credit ed

wit h invent ing t he first mechanical comput er, t he Difference Engine, t hat event ually led t o
more complex elect ronic designs, t hough all t he essent ial ideas of modern comput ers are t o
be found in Babbage's Analyt ical Engine, programmed using a principle openly borrowed from
t he Jacquard loom.[2][6] Babbage had a broad range of int erest s in addit ion t o his work on
comput ers covered in his book Economy of Manufactures and Machinery.[7] His varied work in
ot her fields has led him t o be described as "pre-eminent " among t he many polymat hs of his
cent ury.[1]

Babbage, who died before t he complet e successful engineering of many of his designs,
including his Difference Engine and Analyt ical Engine, remained a prominent figure in t he
ideat ing of comput ing. Part s of Babbage's incomplet e mechanisms are on display in t he
Science Museum in London. In 1991, a funct ioning difference engine was const ruct ed from
Babbage's original plans. Built t o t olerances achievable in t he 19t h cent ury, t he success of
t he finished engine indicat ed t hat Babbage's machine would have worked.

Early life

At the University of Cambridge

After Cambridge

Academic

Later life

Computing pioneer

Family
Death

Memorials

In fiction and film

Publications

See also

Notes

References

External links

Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Charles_Babbage&oldid=1132458683"

Last edited 3 days ago by Materialscientist