CHARLES BABBAGE
Charles Babbage
Born December 26, 1791 in Teignmouth, Devonshire UK, Died 1871, London; Known to
some as the "Father of Computing" for his contributions to the basic design of
the computer through his Analytical machine. His previous Difference Engine was
a special purpose device intended for the production of tables.
While he did produce prototypes of portions of the Difference Engine, it was
left to Georg and Edvard Schuetz to construct the first working devices to the
same design which were successful in limited applications.
Significant Events in His Life: 1791: Born; 1810: Entered Trinity College,
Cambridge; 1814: graduated Peterhouse; 1817 received MA from Cambridge; 1820:
founded the Analytical Society with Herschel and Peacock; 1823: started work on
the Difference Engine through funding from the British Government; 1827:
published a table of logarithms from 1 to 108000; 1828: appointed to the
Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge (never presented a lecture); 1831:
founded the British Association for the Advancement of Science; 1832: published
"Economy of Manufactures and Machinery"; 1833: began work on the Analytical
Engine; 1834: founded the Statistical Society of London; 1864: published
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher; 1871: Died.
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.
Charles Babbage
Born December 26, 1791 in Teignmouth, Devonshire UK, Died 1871, London; Known to
some as the "Father of Computing" for his contributions to the basic design of
the computer through his Analytical machine. His previous Difference Engine was
a special purpose device intended for the production of tables.
While he did produce prototypes of portions of the Difference Engine, it was
left to Georg and Edvard Schuetz to construct the first working devices to the
same design which were successful in limited applications.
Significant Events in His Life: 1791: Born; 1810: Entered Trinity College,
Cambridge; 1814: graduated Peterhouse; 1817 received MA from Cambridge; 1820:
founded the Analytical Society with Herschel and Peacock; 1823: started work on
the Difference Engine through funding from the British Government; 1827:
published a table of logarithms from 1 to 108000; 1828: appointed to the
Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge (never presented a lecture); 1831:
founded the British Association for the Advancement of Science; 1832: published
"Economy of Manufactures and Machinery"; 1833: began work on the Analytical
Engine; 1834: founded the Statistical Society of London; 1864: published
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher; 1871: Died.
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.