Charles Babbage

By: Rachael Foster

Background

Born: December 26,1791 in London

School:

attended Trinity College in Cambridge(1811)

transferred to Peterhouse in Cambridge where he graduated and

later received an honorary degree(1814)

because of the poor math programs available in Cambridge

Babbage, J.Herschel, G.Peacock and a few others formed the

Analytical Society

Family:

Married Georgiana Whitmore in 1814

His father didn’t approve of his marriage

They had eight children

Background cont…

In 1816 Babbage was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society.

Babbage played a large role in the founding of

the Astronomical Society. This is where his

interest and passion for calculating machinery

emerged.

The Inventor

Problem= high error rate in math table calculations

Babbage’s plan= find a mechanical method of calculation, eliminating human error

Influences: Hated disorder and imprecision Experienced with logarithmical tables Inspired by the works of W. Schickard,

B.Pascal, and G. Leibniz

Difference Engine

Able to calculate polynomials by the differences method

In 1823, the government granted him $1,500 to build it Hand-made parts using custom tools(Babbage

designed most of them) A fire destroyed the plans for the Difference Engine

while Babbage was away in Europe With the Royal Society’s support, the government

continued to fund Babbage’s project Babbage built a new workshop (fireproof and dust free). His associate, Clement, refused to move to the new

workshop and would not give Babbage back the plans or tools needed to construct the Difference Engine.

The Difference Engine was never completed. In 1834, Babbage stopped work on the Difference Machine. $23,000 was spent in efforts to construct it.

The Difference Engine

Analytical Engine Could be programmed to do any calculation used punch cards (idea from Jacquard's loom) for input and to identify what calculations to perform Output printed on paper Two parts:

The “mill”▪ Retrieved and executed instructions from the “store”

The “store”▪ Readable/Writable memory (held data/programs)

Lady Lovelace wrote down specific instructions explaining how the machine worked The Analytical Engine project was also never finished

The Analytical

Engine

*** according to plans, the completed mill would be 15 feet high and the store would be 25 feet long!

Other inventions created by Babbage…

Cowcatcher Dynamometer Standard railroad gauge Uniform postal rates Occulting lights for lighthouses Greenwich time signals Heliograph ophthalmoscope

Interesting Facts!

A crater near the northern pole of the moon is named after Babbage

He wasn’t well-known– only one carriage followed in his burial procession and the Royal Society printed no obituary

After Babbage’s death, his brain was preserved in alcohol for 37 years before being dissected by Sir Victor Horsley of the Royal Society

Out of his eight children, only three lived to be adults Babbage’s father, wife, and one of his children all died in

the same year(1827) He despises music He was obsessed with fire, once baking himself in an oven

at 265°F for four minutes just to see what would happen!

Sources:

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/babbage.htm

http://www.cbi.umn.edu/about/babbage.html http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/Babbage.html http://www.charlesbabbage.net/ http://www.computernostalgia.net/articles/babba

ge.htm http://www.cbi.umn.edu/about/babbage.html