Susan
Johnson
SPSE
6600
Fall
2006
Charles Babbage
Known to many as the “Father of Computing” but
remembered as a practical scientist, Charles Babbage, a nineteenth century
mathematician and inventor, was born with the knowledge to design a modern
machine. Unfortunately, the technology
necessary to create the first computer was not yet developed. Babbage’s grandness, eccentricities, and
continuous tinkering got in the way of the completion of his great “works”.
Born December 26, 1792 in Teignmouth, Devonshire UK,
the son of a London banker, Charles Babbage was afforded the luxury of private
tutors, was well read and was accepted into Trinity College, Cambridge in
October 1810. Disappointed with the
mathematical instruction available at
During his twenties, Babbage worked as a
mathematician, was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1816, and played
a prominent part in the foundation of the Astronomical Society in 1820. It was during this time that he became
convinced that a machine could be designed to compile mathematical tables. Babbage tired of the monotony of calculations
began, work on what would become the Difference Engine; a programmable machine
with a 20-decimal capacity. His invention
passion was born. The Royal Society,
highly supportive of Babbage’s prototype, convinced the British government to
award Babbage an initial 1500 pounds in public funding. Babbage confidently reported that his
mechanical machine would be complete in less than three years; however, a
working model of the Difference Engine proved much more difficult to
build. Babbage spent the next ten years
modifying and re-designing the device and spent millions of governmental
money. With no working model and
millions of dollars invested, the government finally withdrew their funding,
retaining ownership of the machine; it remains today in the
Babbage was quickly back to work
after failing to bring his Difference Engine to completion. By 1833 he began construction on a more
complex Analytical Engine, a machine that could be programmed using punch cards
and employ sequential control, branching, and looping (all features used in
modern day computers). Throughout this
time, Babbage relied heavily on the brilliance of Ada Byron, Countess of
Lovelace, fellow mathematician and confidant.
She was one of a few who understood Babbage’s vision and saw the
potential of the Analytical Engine.
As a true inventor, Babbage was constantly inventing. His ideas did not end with mathematical
engines. Babbage invented the
cow-catcher,
Charles Babbage was an outcast among
his peers and rarely interacted with with those outside his academic circle. He considered himself better than the “common
man”. Babbage considered street music an
utmost nuisance. He constantly filed
complaints; therefore, the public tormented him with an unending parade of
musicians parading past his windows.
Most who came in contact with him considered him an eccentric, and he
had a common distaste for commoners. Neither
his neighbors nor his countrymen understood his mind or his interests. Babbage once counted all the broken panes of
glass of a factory, publishing his findings.
His obsession with fire led him to bake himself in an oven at 265
degrees for four minutes to see what would happen. He found there to be not much
discomfort. Not to have been challenged
enough in the oven, he headed abroad and arranged to be lowered into the center
of
At the time of his death in 1871,
few people knew of Babbage or his contributions. The Royal Society printed no obituary and the
Times ridiculed him. He had arranged for
his brain to be preserved in alcohol. It
later was dissected by Sir Victor Horsley of the Royal Society in 1908. A crater on the moon is named for Charles
Babbage. The use of Jacquard punch cards, of chains and subassemblies, and
ultimately the logical structure of the modern computer, all come from Babbage
inventions. Many modern day scientists
consider Babbage a profound thinker of the nineteenth century and an important link
in the chain of computing.
Bibliography
9 September 2006, http://www.answers.com/topic/charles-babbage
11 September 2006, http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Babbage