There was a time when the word "Computer" was a word which described someone who sat at a desk in an office and did endless calculations. These were logarithmic, trigometric, calculus works that were often involving things like Tide tables, weather patterns, ballistics, and astronomical data.
These "Computers" painstakingly executed high level math operations which were then compiled into books that were published.
The problem was that, even these highly skilled persons, were human. and inevitably would introduce errors into these calculations. which were endlessly iterated. and at a certain point an error would be written into a chart, and would basically make all the thousands of items that came after that error useless. like a 1% change in trajectory will put a rocket leaving earth past the side of the moon rather than landing on it. Or a sort of Christopher Columbus seeking India and ending up in The New World...
These "Computers" painstakingly executed high level math operations which were then compiled into books that were published.
The problem was that, even these highly skilled persons, were human. and inevitably would introduce errors into these calculations. which were endlessly iterated. and at a certain point an error would be written into a chart, and would basically make all the thousands of items that came after that error useless. like a 1% change in trajectory will put a rocket leaving earth past the side of the moon rather than landing on it. Or a sort of Christopher Columbus seeking India and ending up in The New World...
Enter Mathematical + Mechanical Genius :
Charles Babbage (26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871)
Charles Babbage, mathematical (and later engineering) genius, was early employed in supervising the compiling of these tables and publishing them into books, asked himself if it were possible to make the process infinitely faster and error free by replacing human computers with a machine.
Eureka!
Exasperated by the sticky problem of calculating reliable tables, he approached the British government and secured a grant to build Difference Engine No. 1 - like many entrepreneurs , or other genius - Babbage had that "Reality Distortion Field." - though he was equal to the challenge, the limitations of precision of the day, lack of skilled labor and his own tendency to lose focus and follow down another rabbit trail just as he was nearing completion of a project (self sabotage?), led him to essentially design 3 machines in his life, having his friend and collaborator machinist Joseph Clement building portions of them, along with numerous prototypes.
Difference Engine No.1 , Difference Engine No. 2, and The Analytical Engine.
Difference Engines no. 1 and 2 had build in "Software" that is to say that the program to run the calculations was built into the brass wheels, cogs, gears, levers of the machine, which was hand cranked, and could not be changed. there was the ability to set the numbers via brass dials with inset numbers, but other than that the essential function of the machine could not be changed.
later, Babbage abandoned the Difference Engine for an even greater Bonanza : the Analytical Engine - combining the punch cards of the Jacquard Loom and his Difference Engine - Babbage realized he could build a programmable computer - he , along with Ada Lovelace, pre-empted The Turing Universal Machine by nearly a century (Alan Turing proposed his "Universal Machine" in 1936) - realizing that a programmable mechanical "Computer" could be made to do more than just calculate tide tables, artillery trajectories, and so forth but they foresaw that it could be made to do almost anything...
after spending 17,ooo pounds on Babbage's Machines, (equivalent to £2,301,445.79 -or- $3,113,384.36 today) The British government ultimately lost patience with Babbage's inability to bring the ship into port - to finish even one of his machines, over the decades that they were his patrons.
This form of government patronage for the development of computer technology also set the pattern for computer technological development in the 2oth century.
If Babbage had lived to see his Vision fully flushed out, we would have had Modern Programmable Computers Over a hundred years before The First computers like Konrad Zuse's, ENIAC, and others! -
Charles Babbage (26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871)
Charles Babbage, mathematical (and later engineering) genius, was early employed in supervising the compiling of these tables and publishing them into books, asked himself if it were possible to make the process infinitely faster and error free by replacing human computers with a machine.
Eureka!
Exasperated by the sticky problem of calculating reliable tables, he approached the British government and secured a grant to build Difference Engine No. 1 - like many entrepreneurs , or other genius - Babbage had that "Reality Distortion Field." - though he was equal to the challenge, the limitations of precision of the day, lack of skilled labor and his own tendency to lose focus and follow down another rabbit trail just as he was nearing completion of a project (self sabotage?), led him to essentially design 3 machines in his life, having his friend and collaborator machinist Joseph Clement building portions of them, along with numerous prototypes.
Difference Engine No.1 , Difference Engine No. 2, and The Analytical Engine.
Difference Engines no. 1 and 2 had build in "Software" that is to say that the program to run the calculations was built into the brass wheels, cogs, gears, levers of the machine, which was hand cranked, and could not be changed. there was the ability to set the numbers via brass dials with inset numbers, but other than that the essential function of the machine could not be changed.
later, Babbage abandoned the Difference Engine for an even greater Bonanza : the Analytical Engine - combining the punch cards of the Jacquard Loom and his Difference Engine - Babbage realized he could build a programmable computer - he , along with Ada Lovelace, pre-empted The Turing Universal Machine by nearly a century (Alan Turing proposed his "Universal Machine" in 1936) - realizing that a programmable mechanical "Computer" could be made to do more than just calculate tide tables, artillery trajectories, and so forth but they foresaw that it could be made to do almost anything...
after spending 17,ooo pounds on Babbage's Machines, (equivalent to £2,301,445.79 -or- $3,113,384.36 today) The British government ultimately lost patience with Babbage's inability to bring the ship into port - to finish even one of his machines, over the decades that they were his patrons.
This form of government patronage for the development of computer technology also set the pattern for computer technological development in the 2oth century.
If Babbage had lived to see his Vision fully flushed out, we would have had Modern Programmable Computers Over a hundred years before The First computers like Konrad Zuse's, ENIAC, and others! -
Lord Byron, Ada Lovelace, and The Origin of Computer Programmers :
Every Genius needs a No. 1 Fan, and even better if that fan is also a genius and equally if not more capable.
Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, and herself an accomplished mathematician and scientist was the best Friend and interpreter that Charles Babbage could ever have had. She translated Babbage's ideas into understandable concepts, softened his rough edges - as an intermediary between himself and the patronage he required. As well as peers and the general public.
Widely considered the first computer Programmer, Lovelace designed Heuristics and Algorithms for Babbage's machines, did work on the punch card systems for The Analytical Engine, and wrote many treatises and articles about the machines which were disseminated widely.
With Great Alacrity, and Magnanimity, she understood the earth shattering importance of Babbage's ideas - perhaps more than he did on some fronts. It is probably in large part due to her that we even remember Babbage, his megalithic project, and that he was able to get as close as he did to Advancing Computer Science over a hundred years.
Imagine if we were 1oo years farther along in Computer technology today - One almost shudders to think. If Babbage had succeeded in finishing even one of his machines, that would likely be the case and we would be living in a world that looks much different than today, probably entirely different - for better or for Worse.
Every Genius needs a No. 1 Fan, and even better if that fan is also a genius and equally if not more capable.
Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, and herself an accomplished mathematician and scientist was the best Friend and interpreter that Charles Babbage could ever have had. She translated Babbage's ideas into understandable concepts, softened his rough edges - as an intermediary between himself and the patronage he required. As well as peers and the general public.
Widely considered the first computer Programmer, Lovelace designed Heuristics and Algorithms for Babbage's machines, did work on the punch card systems for The Analytical Engine, and wrote many treatises and articles about the machines which were disseminated widely.
With Great Alacrity, and Magnanimity, she understood the earth shattering importance of Babbage's ideas - perhaps more than he did on some fronts. It is probably in large part due to her that we even remember Babbage, his megalithic project, and that he was able to get as close as he did to Advancing Computer Science over a hundred years.
Imagine if we were 1oo years farther along in Computer technology today - One almost shudders to think. If Babbage had succeeded in finishing even one of his machines, that would likely be the case and we would be living in a world that looks much different than today, probably entirely different - for better or for Worse.
“We may say most aptly, that the Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves."
-Ada Lovelace-
-Ada Lovelace-
Ada Lovelace, (10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) Mathematician, Daughter of Lord Byron, and long considered the First Computer Programmer was instrumental in being the buffer between a cantankerous, disagreeable and often self-sabotaging Charles Babbage the public, the Crown, and the patronage he needed to achieve his dreams.
This Portion of Difference Engine No.1 was graciously put together from pieces gleaned from Babbage's workshop by his son after Babbage had passed away. Babbage and his machinist collaborator were pushing the technology as far as it could go at the time - this level of precision had never been required before. And one sees how the earlier models of section of the machine are heavier and clunkier, while they tend to become more graceful, refined, and less muscular with each iteration.
Difference Engine No. 2 - completed by the workshop technicians of The British Museum - who have now made 2 of the machine. both of which, with little alteration work exactly as Babbage had intended them to. (one of the only changes was to make a gear ratio reducer so that 4 turns of the crank would complete 1 calculation -rather than 1 turn which would make the poor operator's arm fall off whoever had the biceps to turn thing
Difference Engine No.2 was never completed during Babbage's life time. in the early 2ooos, an entrepreneur Commissioned the British Science Museum to construct a full version of the machine, for the very first time. it was constructed in the museum workshop over a period of several years and a project costing several million dollars. Ultimately, the builders of the machine, and the businessman who commissioned it himself had no idea if the machine would actually work. Much to everyone's surprise, an almost 2oo year old machine, with little changes from the original patents , functioned just as Babbage intended it to! Later a second machine was commissioned (intended for the businessman's living room!) which is on temporary loan to The Computer History Museum , Formerly in Boston, now in California where it is regularly demonstrated for museum visitors via a large hand crank visible to the left of back side of the machine -
Bibliography:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_(occupation)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Babbage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace
One of my favorite website of all time, a Wealth of Information about Computer history, the incredible amount of information, lavishly illustrated on the usually unknown Difference Engines that came after and built upon babbages work alone is incredible. Spent countless hours on this wonderful site for almost half my life:
https:///history-computer.com/
https://computerhistory.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Clement
Pounds Inflation Calculator :
https://www.in2013dollars.com/uk/inflation/1822?amount=17000
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Turing_machine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_(occupation)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Babbage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace
One of my favorite website of all time, a Wealth of Information about Computer history, the incredible amount of information, lavishly illustrated on the usually unknown Difference Engines that came after and built upon babbages work alone is incredible. Spent countless hours on this wonderful site for almost half my life:
https:///history-computer.com/
https://computerhistory.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Clement
Pounds Inflation Calculator :
https://www.in2013dollars.com/uk/inflation/1822?amount=17000
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Turing_machine