Today in Technology History
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June 14
We wrote about the UNIVAC computer on June 14 last year. This year, our subject is one of its ancestors.
Charles Babbage (1791-1871) was a remarkable English mathematician and inventor. The most notable fact about him, certainly from our modern point of view, is that he spent decades of his life -- as well as nearly all of the fortune he inherited -- trying to build a mechanical calculating machine that can be considered, in several important ways, a forerunner of the modern computer.
Babbage's masterpiece, the object of his greatest obsession, was sadly never completed. But before he began work on that large calculating machine, the "Analytical Engine," he had done considerable work on a smaller calculating machine, called the "Difference Engine." He first went public with that invention exactly 180 years ago, on June 14, 1822, in a note read to the Astronomical Society, an organization he had helped to found. Not only did he explain the basics of his idea, but he had even constructed a small working model.
Put simply, Babbage's Difference Engine used gears and wheels to add numbers in a series. You wouldn't use Babbage's device to add two large numbers as you might use a modern hand-held calculator. Instead, you would use it to add numbers that you needed to list in a series; in other words, it was a time-saving device for people compiling tables. You would input the initial settings and crank out answers. So, for instance, if you wanted to compile a table for y = x2 + x + 15, you would set the wheels on the Difference Engine for that equation, enter a starting value for x, and the machine would generate the values of y for your table.
Within a year, Babbage had informed other scientific societies of his invention, had submitted a funding proposal for money to build his machine, and had been awarded the Astronomical Society's first gold medal. The fact that Babbage had such a promising beginning makes his ultimate defeat that much more bitter.
Related links:
This page has several pictures and resources related to Babbage's Difference Engine.
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