Charles Babbage biography in English. Inventor of the world's first computer

Charles Babbage is considered the founder of modern computing. In the work of Charles Babbage, two directions can be traced: difference and analytical computers. Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine uses the principle of program control and is the predecessor of modern computers.

The first small model of Charles Babbage's apparatus

In 1822, Charles Babbage created the first small model of his apparatus, called the “difference engine.” The mechanism of the difference machine consisted of rollers and gears, manually rotated using a special lever. The difference engine could manipulate six-digit numbers and express in numbers any function that had a constant second difference. The value of Charles Babbage's difference engine is that it could not only perform a given action once, but also carry out an entire program of calculations. Babbage himself was quite clear about the purpose of his machine. He promoted the use of mathematical methods in various fields of science and predicted the widespread use of computers.

Babbage approached the British government with a request to finance full-scale development. The British government, interested in the idea, allocated money for further development of the project. In 1834, Babbage began developing an even more complex unit - an analytical engine, capable of performing certain actions in accordance with instructions given by the operator. The Analytical Engine model can actually be considered a prototype of the modern computer. The main difference between an analytical engine and a difference engine is that it is programmable and can perform any calculations given to it.

Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine Principle

Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine uses the principle of program control and is the predecessor of modern computers.

Main parts of the analytical engine

The analytical engine consisted of the following four main parts:

• a block for storing initial, intermediate data and calculation results. (consisted of a set of gears identifying numbers like an adding machine);
• a number processing unit from the warehouse, called a mill (in modern terminology, this is an arithmetic device);
• calculation sequence control unit (in modern terminology, this is a control device for the control unit);
• block for inputting initial data and printing results (in modern terminology, this is an input/output device).

The Analytical Engine was never built by Charles Babbge. In addition to the chronic shortage financial resources, the most important reason is technological. Then they did not know how to process metal with high degree precision and high productivity - and the project required thousands of gears alone.

General Babbage, the son of the inventor, had a great influence on the posthumous fate of the machine. After retiring in 1874, he devoted several years to studying his father's heritage, and in 1880 he began work on restoring the Difference Engine to hardware. Work continued with varying success until 1896. Eventually, by 1904, a small fragment of a machine was created that printed the results of calculations. In addition, Babbage Jr. made several mini-copies of the Difference Engine and sent them around the world.

In 1991, on the occasion of the bicentenary of the scientist’s birth, employees of the London Science Museum recreated the 2.6-ton “difference engine No. 2” based on his drawings, and in 2000, they also recreated Babbage’s 3.5-ton printer. Both devices, made using mid-19th century technology, work excellently - only two errors were found in Babbage's calculations.

Charles was one of four children of Benjamin Babbage and Betsy Plumley. His father was a banker and partner in Praed's & Co, and owner of the Bitton Estate in Teignmouth. At the age of eight he was sent to the village school in Alpington to recover from a fever that was threatening his health.

He studied at King Edward VI Grammar School in South Devon and then at Holmwood Academy in Middlesex under the Reverend Stephen Freeman. The school library instilled in him a love of mathematics.

Babbage left the academy to study with two private teachers - a priest from Cambridge, from whom he did not learn much, and a teacher from Oxford, who taught Babbage classical knowledge. Babbage entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1810. With his friends, he founded the “Analytical Society”, the “Ghost Club”, which was engaged in the study of paranormal phenomena, and a club called “Tongs” for outpatients of psychiatric hospitals. In 1912, Babbage entered St. Peter's College, Cambridge and, being the best mathematician in the institution, two years later received his degree without passing exams, having managed to win a debate on a controversial topic.

Career

After graduating from college, Babbage worked at various places, but had almost no success. He lectured on astronomy at the Royal Association and in 1816 was appointed a Fellow of the British Scientific Royal Society.

In 1820, with the participation of Babbage, the Astronomical Society was founded, whose members turned to Babbage and his friend Herschel with a request to improve the Nautical Directory by correcting errors in its tables. It was this task that led his thoughts to the idea of ​​automated computing.

In 1822, Babbage presented his report “Remarks on the Application of Machines to the Computation of Mathematical Tables” to the Astronomical Society, supporting the report with the creation of a small difference engine for calculating tables of squares.

In 1823, following the recommendation of the Royal Scientific Society, the British government sponsored the creation of the difference engine, an automatic mechanical calculator designed to combine polynomials. His friend and engineer Mark Brunel recommended artisan Joseph Clement to create the device's mechanism.

The difference engine was not built due to disagreements with Clement over construction financing. The second (large) difference engine did not receive the necessary funding from the government and was also not completed. Interestingly, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Babbage, between 1989 and 1991, the Large Difference Engine
was constructed.

Together with friend and college colleague John Herschel, Babbage worked in 1825 on the magnetism of Arago's rotation and the resulting question of magnetism. Their work was taken up and expanded upon by Michael Faraday.

In 1826, Babbage acquired the mortality tables of George Barrett, who died without publishing his work. Using Barrett's work as a basis, Babbage published his work with the title " Comparative review various systems life insurance."

He was refused the position of Secretary of the Royal Scientific Society, despite his promises. In 1826, Babbage published a diagram of a submersible submarine, which had enough air to four people for more than two days.

From 1828 to 1839, Babbage held the honorary position of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, and was also elected an honorary foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Babbage twice tried to enter Parliament for the constituency of Finsborough in 1830, but lost both times by the narrowest of margins. His Political Views included the expansion of suffrage and the separation of state and church.

In 1830, Babbage published a polemical book, Reflections on the Decline of Science and Some of the Causes Thereof, which led to the creation of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

In 1832, Babbage published The Economics of Technology and Manufacture, which was one of the first works on the topic of operations research. "Babbage's principle" implied the division of labor according to skill level. Babbage published his book “Ninth Bridgewater Treatise” with the title “Through the Power, Wisdom and Kindness of God.” He defined his idea of ​​the creation of man as one in which the laws of nature prevail.

Babbage also studied cryptology, and at the height of his Crimean War in 1850 he was able to crack the Vigenère cipher, but his work was considered a military secret and therefore did not become public knowledge.

Main works

Babbage created complex device with the name "Analytical Engine", which was used for general mathematical calculations and was operated by punched cards. The device was constantly refined and changed from 1833 until Babbage's death.

In 1838, Babbage invented a track clearer - a metal frame that was attached to a locomotive and removed obstacles from the path. He also developed a dynamometer that recorded the kilometers traveled by a locomotive.

Personal life and legacy

In 1814, Babbage married Georgiana Whitmur. Only four of the couple's eight children, named Benjamin Herschel, Georgiana Whitmore, Dugald Bromhead and Henry Prevost, lived to adulthood.

George Babbage died of kidney failure at the age of 79 and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery in London.

A crater on the Moon and a locomotive are named after Babbage, as well as the Charles Babbage Institute, an information technology center at the University of Minnesota.

Babbage's friend and admirer, Ada Lovelace, is considered the world's first programmer, as she created an algorithm for actions to be performed by a machine.

Charles Babbage was one of four scientists who independently discovered the secret of dendrochronology, or the science of tree rings. But Andrew Ellicott Douglas is considered the father of dendrochronology.

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The average rating this biography received. Show rating Charles Babbage was born on December 26, 1791 in London. His father, Benjamin Babbage, was a banker. Mother's name was Elizabeth Babbage, her maiden name was Teape. As a child, Charles had very poor health. At the age of 8 he was sent to a private school in Alphington to be raised by a priest. At that time, his father was already wealthy enough to allow Charles to study at private school . Benjamin Babbage asked the priest not to give Charles strong study loads

due to poor health. After school at Alphington, Charles was sent to the academy at Enfield, where his real training essentially began. It was there that Babbage began to show interest in mathematics, which was facilitated by a big library

in Academy.

After studying at the academy, Babbage studied with two tutors. The first was a priest who lived near Cambridge. According to Charles, the priest would not have given him the knowledge that he could have gained from studying with a more experienced tutor. After the priest, Babbage had a tutor from Oxford. He was able to give Babbage enough basic classical knowledge to enter college.

In this regard, he decided to create a society whose goal was to bring modern European mathematics to the University of Cambridge. In 1812, Charles Babbage, his friends John Herschel and George Peacock and several other young mathematicians founded the Analytical Society. They started holding meetings. Discuss various questions related to mathematics. We began to publish our works. For example, in 1816 they published their translation into English language“Treatise on Differential and Integral Calculus” by the French mathematician Lacroix, and in 1820 they published two volumes of examples supplementing this treatise. Through its activity, the Analytical Society initiated the reform of mathematics education, first at Cambridge and then at other universities in Britain.

In 1812, Babbage moved to St. Peter's College (Peterhouse). And in 1814 he received a bachelor's degree. That same year, Charles Babbage married Georgiana Whitmore, and in 1815 they moved from Cambridge to London. During their thirteen years of marriage they had eight children, but five of them died in childhood. In 1816 he became a member of the Royal Society of London. By that time he had written several large scientific articles in various mathematical disciplines. In 1820 he became a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Astronomical Society. In 1827 he buried his father, wife and two children. In 1827 he became professor of mathematical sciences at Cambridge, a post he held for 12 years. After he left this post, he most devoted his time to his life's work - the development of computers.

Babbage devoted the last years of his life to philosophy and political economy.

Babbage's inventions

Small difference machine

Babbage first thought about creating a mechanism that would allow complex calculations to be performed automatically with great accuracy in 1812. These thoughts were prompted by his study of logarithmic tables, during the recalculation of which numerous errors in calculations were revealed due to human factor. Even then, he began to comprehend the possibility of carrying out complex mathematical calculations using mechanical devices.

Babbage was also greatly influenced by the work of the French scientist Baron de Prony, who proposed the idea of ​​division of labor when calculating large tables (logarithmic, trigonometric, etc.). He proposed dividing the calculation process into three levels. The first level consists of several outstanding mathematicians preparing mathematical software. The second level consists of educated technologists who organized the routine process of computational work. And the third level was occupied by the calculators themselves, from whom only the ability to add and subtract was required. Prony's ideas led Babbage to think about replacing the third level (calculators) with a mechanical device.

However, Babbage did not immediately begin to develop the idea of ​​​​building a computing mechanism. It was not until 1819, when he became interested in astronomy, that he more precisely defined his ideas and formulated principles for calculating tables by the difference method using a machine that he later called a difference machine. This machine was supposed to perform a complex of calculations using only the addition operation. In 1819, Charles Babbage began building a small difference engine, and in 1822 he completed its construction and gave a presentation to the Royal Astronomical Society on the use of a machine mechanism for calculating astronomical and mathematical tables. He demonstrated the operation of the machine by calculating the terms of a sequence. The operation of the difference machine was based on the finite difference method. The small machine was completely mechanical and consisted of many gears and levers. It used decimal system Reckoning. It operated with 18-bit numbers accurate to the eighth decimal place and provided a calculation speed of 12 sequence terms per minute. The small difference engine could count the values ​​of polynomials of the 7th degree.

For the creation of the difference engine, Babbage was awarded the first gold medal of the Astronomical Society. However, the small difference engine was experimental because it had a small memory and could not be used for large calculations.

Large difference machine

In 1822, Babbage thought about creating a large difference engine that would replace the huge number of people involved in calculating various astronomical, navigational and mathematical tables. This would save labor costs and also eliminate human errors.

With his proposal to finance the creation of a large difference engine, Charles Babbage turned to the Royal and Astronomical Societies. Both of them responded positively to this proposal. In 1823, Babbage received £1,500 and began developing a new machine. He planned to construct the car in 3 years. However, Babbage did not take into account the complexity of the design, and also technical capabilities that time. And by 1827, 3,500 pounds sterling (more than 1,000 personal money) had been spent. The progress of work on creating a difference engine has slowed down greatly.

In addition, the process of designing the machine was greatly influenced by the tragic events in Babbage’s life in 1827. This year he buried his father, wife and two children. After these events, his health worsened, and he could not design the car. To restore his health, he went on a trip across the continent.

After traveling in 1828, Babbage continued development, but there was no more money. He approached many societies and the government asking for help. Only in 1830 did he receive another 9,000 pounds sterling from the government, after which he continued to design a difference engine.

In 1834, work on creating the machine was suspended. At that time, £17,000 had already been spent government money and 6000 personal. From 1834 to 1842, the government debated whether or not to support the project. And in 1842 they refused to finance the project. The difference engine was never completed.

The large difference engine would have 25,000 parts, weigh almost 14 tons and be 2.5 meters tall. In addition, the difference engine had to be equipped with a printing device to display the results. The memory was designed for 1000 50-bit numbers.

Perhaps the reason for the failure to create a difference engine, along with the tragic events of 1827 and the insufficient level of technology of that time, was Babbage's excessive versatility. He climbed Vesuvius with an expedition, sank to the bottom of the lake in a diving bell, participated in archaeological excavations, studied the occurrence of ores, descending into mines. For almost a year he worked on railway safety and made a lot of special equipment - including creating a speedometer. In addition, when constructing the difference machine, he developed a lot of equipment for metal processing. In 1851, Charles Babbage attempted to construct an improved version of the difference engine, Difference Engine 2. But this project was not successful either.

However, Babbage's work on creating a difference engine was not in vain. In 1854, the Swedish inventor Scheutz built several difference engines based on the work of Babbage. And after some time, Martin Wiberg improved the Scheutz machine and used it for calculations and publication of logarithmic tables.

In 1891, Difference Engine 2 was built and is now in the London Science Museum.

Analytical Engine

Despite the failure with the difference engine, Babbage in 1834 thought about creating a programmable computer, which he called analytical (the prototype of a modern computer). Unlike the difference engine, the analytical engine made it possible to solve a wider range of problems. It was this car that became his life’s work and brought posthumous fame. He assumed that building a new machine would require less time and money than modifying a difference machine, since it was supposed to consist of simpler mechanical elements. In 1834, Babbage began designing the Analytical Engine.

The architecture of a modern computer is in many ways similar to the architecture of an analytical engine. In the Analytical Engine, Babbage provided the following parts: a warehouse (store), a factory or mill (mill), a control element (control) and information input/output devices.

The warehouse was intended to store both the values ​​of the variables with which operations are performed and the results of operations. In modern terminology this is called memory.

The mill (arithmetic-logical device, part of a modern processor) was supposed to perform operations on variables, as well as store in registers the value of variables with which this moment carries out the operation.

The third device, which Babbage did not give a name, controlled the sequence of operations, the placement of variables in and out of storage, and the output of results. It read sequences of operations and variables from punched cards. There were two types of punched cards: operational cards and variable cards. From the operating cards it was possible to compile a library of functions. In addition, according to Babbage's plan, the Analytical Engine was supposed to contain a printing device and a device for outputting results onto punched cards for subsequent use.

To create a computer in the modern sense, all that was left was to come up with a circuit with a stored program, which was done 100 years later by Eckert, Mauchly and von Neumann.

Babbage developed the design of the Analytical Engine alone. He often attended industrial exhibitions, where various new science and technology were presented. It was there that he met Ada Augusta Lovelace (daughter of George Byron), who became his very close friend, assistant and only like-minded person. In 1840, Babbage traveled at the invitation of Italian mathematicians to Turin, where he lectured about his machine. Luigi Menabrea, a teacher at the Turin Artillery Academy, created and published lecture notes on French. Later, Ada Lovelace translated these lectures into English, supplementing them with comments in volume exceeding the original text. In the comments, Ada made a description of the digital computer and programming instructions for it. These were the first programs in the world. That is why Ada Lovelace is rightly called the first programmer. However, the Analytical Engine was never completed. Here is what Babbage wrote in 1851: “All developments related to the Analytical Engine have been carried out at my expense. I conducted a number of experiments and reached the point where my capabilities are not enough. In this regard, I am forced to refuse further work.” Despite the fact that Babbage described in detail the design of the Analytical Engine and the principles of its operation, it was never built during his lifetime. There were many reasons for this. But the main ones were the complete lack of funding for the project to create an analytical engine and the low level of technology at that time. Babbage did not ask for help from the government this time, since he understood that after the failure with the difference engine, he would still be refused.

Only after the death of Charles Babbage did his son, Henry Babbage, continue the work begun by his father. In 1888, Henry managed to build the central unit of the Analytical Engine based on his father's drawings. And in 1906, Henry, together with the Monroe company, built a working model of an analytical engine, including an arithmetic unit and a device for printing results. Babbage's machine turned out to be functional, but Charles did not live to see these days.

In 1864, Charles Babbage wrote: “It will probably be half a century before people will be convinced that the means I leave behind cannot be dispensed with.” In his assumption, he was mistaken by 30 years. Only 80 years after this statement was it built MARK-I car, which was called “Babbage’s dream come true.” The architecture of MARK-I was very similar to the architecture of the Analytical Engine. Howard Aiken actually seriously studied the publications of Babbage and Ada Lovelace before creating his machine, and his machine ideologically slightly advanced compared to the unfinished Analytical Engine. The productivity of MARK-I turned out to be only ten times higher than the calculated speed of the analytical engine.

Other merits of Charles Babbage

Despite the fact that Charles Babbage is considered the inventor of computers, he was actually a very versatile person. Babbage was involved in the safety of railway traffic, for which he equipped a laboratory car with all kinds of sensors, the readings of which were recorded by recorders. Invented the speedometer. Participated in the invention of the tachometer. Created a device that throws random objects from the tracks in front of the locomotive.

While working on the creation of computers, he made great progress in metalworking. He designed cross-planing and turret lathes, and came up with methods for manufacturing gears. Offered new method tool sharpening and injection molding.

He helped reform the postal system in England. Compiled the first reliable insurance tables. He studied the theory of functional analysis, experimental studies of electromagnetism, encryption issues, optics, geology, and religious and philosophical issues.

In 1834, Babbage wrote one of his most important works, The Economics of Technology and Manufacture, in which he proposed what is now called Operations Research.

He was one of the founders of the London Statistical Society. Among his inventions were a speedometer, an ophthalmoscope, a seismograph, and a device for aiming an artillery gun.

In addition, Babbage was a very sociable person. Often on Saturdays he gathered guests at his house. Sometimes from 200 to 300 guests came, among whom were such famous people of that time: Jean Foucault, Pierre Laplace, Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Alexander Humboldt. In addition, he maintained close relationships with Jung, Fourier, Poisson, Bessel, and Malthus.

Babbage left a huge mark on the history of the 19th century. And he made a revolution not only in mathematics and computer technology, but also in science in general.

Foreign corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg (). Works on the theory of functions, mechanization of calculation in economics. Designed and built (-) a tabulating machine. S worked on the construction of a difference engine. He developed a project for a universal digital computer - the prototype of a modern computer.

Biography

Babbage's inventions

Small difference machine

Babbage first thought about creating a mechanism that would allow complex calculations to be performed automatically with great accuracy in 1812. These thoughts were prompted by his study of logarithmic tables, the recalculation of which revealed numerous errors in calculations caused by the human factor. Even then, he began to comprehend the possibility of carrying out complex mathematical calculations using mechanical devices.

Also, Babbage was greatly influenced by the work of the French scientist Baron de Prony, who proposed the idea of ​​division of labor when calculating large tables (logarithmic, trigonometric, etc.). He proposed dividing the calculation process into three levels. The first level consists of several outstanding mathematicians preparing mathematical software. The second level consists of educated technologists who organized the routine process of computational work. And the third level was occupied by the calculators themselves, from whom only the ability to add and subtract was required. Prony's ideas led Babbage to think about replacing the third level (calculators) with a mechanical device.

However, Babbage did not immediately begin to develop the idea of ​​​​building a computing mechanism. It was only in 1819, when he became interested in astronomy, that he more precisely defined his ideas and formulated the principles of calculating tables by the difference method using a machine, which he later called a difference machine. This machine was supposed to perform a complex of calculations using only the addition operation. In 1819, Charles Babbage began building a small difference engine, and in 1822 he completed its construction and gave a presentation to the Royal Astronomical Society on the use of a machine mechanism for calculating astronomical and mathematical tables. He demonstrated the operation of the machine by calculating the terms of a sequence. The operation of the difference machine was based on the finite difference method. The small machine was completely mechanical and consisted of many gears and levers. It used the decimal number system. It operated with 18-bit numbers accurate to the eighth decimal place and provided a calculation speed of 12 sequence terms per minute. The small difference engine could calculate the values ​​of polynomials of the 7th degree.

For the creation of the difference engine, Babbage was awarded the first gold medal of the Astronomical Society. However, the small difference engine was experimental because it had a small memory and could not be used for large calculations.

Large difference machine

Babbage developed the design of the Analytical Engine alone. He often attended industrial exhibitions, where various new science and technology were presented. It was there that he met Ada Augusta Lovelace (daughter of George Byron), who became his very close friend, assistant and only like-minded person. In 1840, Babbage traveled at the invitation of Italian mathematicians to Turin, where he lectured about his machine. Luigi Menabrea, a teacher at the Turin Artillery Academy, created and published lecture notes in French. Later, Ada Lovelace translated these lectures into English, supplementing them with commentaries in volume exceeding the original text. In the comments, Ada made a description of the digital computer and programming instructions for it. These were the first programs in the world. That is why Ada Lovelace is rightly called the first programmer. However, the Analytical Engine was never completed. Here is what Babbage wrote in 1851: “All developments related to the Analytical Engine were carried out at my expense. I conducted a number of experiments and reached the point where my capabilities are not enough. In this regard, I am forced to refuse further work.” Despite the fact that Babbage described in detail the design of the Analytical Engine and the principles of its operation, it was never built during his lifetime. There were many reasons for this. But the main ones were: the complete lack of funding for the project to create an analytical engine and the low level of technology at that time. Babbage did not ask for help from the government this time, since he understood that after the failure with the difference engine, he would still be refused.

Only after the death of Charles Babbage did his son, Henry Babbage, continue the work begun by his father. In 1888, Henry managed to build the central unit of the Analytical Engine based on his father's drawings. And in 1906, Henry, together with the Monroe company, built a working model of an analytical engine, including an arithmetic unit and a device for printing results. Babbage's machine turned out to be functional, but Charles did not live to see these days.

Charles Babbage (1791-1871) was a pioneer in the creation of computer technology, who developed 2 classes of computers - difference and analytical. The first of them got its name due to the mathematical principle on which it is based - the finite difference method. Its beauty lies in its exceptional use of arithmetic addition without having to resort to multiplication and division, which are difficult to implement mechanically.

More than a calculator

Babbage's difference engine is a calculating device. She manipulates numbers the only way she knows how, constantly adding them up according to the finite difference method. It cannot be used for general arithmetic calculations. Babbage's Analytical Engine is much more than just a calculator. It marks the transition from mechanized arithmetic to full-scale computing general purpose. On different stages In the evolution of Babbage's ideas, there were at least 3 projects. Therefore, it is better to refer to his analytical engines in the plural.

Convenience and engineering efficiency

Babbage devices are decimal devices in the sense that they use the 10 digits from 0 to 9, and digital because they operate only on integers. The values ​​are represented by gears, and each digit has its own wheel. If it stops in an intermediate position between integer values, then the result is considered indeterminate and the machine is blocked to indicate a violation of the integrity of the calculations. This is a kind of error detection.

Babbage also considered the use of number systems other than base 10, including binary and base 3, 4, 5, 12, 16, and 100. He settled on base 10 because of its familiarity and engineering efficiency because it significantly reduces the number of moving parts.

Difference machine No. 1

In 1821, Babbage began development with a mechanism designed to calculate and tabulate polynomial functions. The author describes it as a device for automatically calculating a sequence of values ​​with automatic printing of the results in the form of a table. An integral part of the design is the printer, which is mechanically connected to the calculation section. Difference engine No. 1 is the first full-fledged design for automatic calculations.

From time to time Babbage changed functionality devices. The 1830 design shows a machine capable of 16 digits and 6 orders of difference. The model consisted of 25 thousand parts, divided equally between the computing section and the printer. If the device had been built, it would have weighed an estimated 4 tons and would have been 2.4 m high. Work on Babbage's difference engine was stopped in 1832 after a dispute with engineer Joseph Clement. Government funding finally ceased in 1842

Analytical Engine

When work on the difference apparatus stalled, Babbage conceived a more ambitious device in 1834, which was later called the analytical universal programmable computing engine. The structural properties of Babbage's machine largely correspond to the basic blocks of a modern digital computer. Programming is done using punched cards. This idea was borrowed from the jacquard loom, where they are used to create complex textile patterns.

The logical structure of Babbage's Analytical Engine largely follows the dominant design of computers of the electronic era, which involves a memory ("magazine") separate from a central processing unit ("mill"), sequential execution of operations, and a means for input and output of data and instructions. Therefore, the author of the development deservedly received the title of pioneer of computer technology.

Memory and CPU

Babbage's machine had a "magazine" where numbers were stored and a separate "mill" where arithmetic processing was performed. It had a set of 4 arithmetic functions and could perform direct multiplication and division. In addition, the device was capable of performing operations that are now called conditional branching, loop (iteration), microprogramming, parallel processing, fixation, pulse generation, etc. The author himself did not use such terminology.

The Analytical Engine CPU, which he called the “mill,” provides:

• storing numbers, operations on which are performed immediately, in registers;
• has hardware for performing basic arithmetic operations with them;
• transmission of user-oriented external instructions in detailed internal management;
• a synchronization system (clock) for executing instructions in a carefully selected sequence.

The control mechanism of the analytical engine performs operations automatically and consists of two parts: the lower level, controlled by massive drums called barrels, and high level, using punch cards developed by Jacquard for looms widely used in the early 1800s.

Output devices

The calculation result is displayed different ways, including printing, punch cards, plotting and automatic production of stereotypes - trays from soft material, on which the result is imprinted, capable of serving as a mold for casting plates for printing.

New design

Babbage had largely completed his pioneering work on the Analytical Engine by 1840 and began developing a new device. Between 1847 and 1849 he completed the development of Difference Engine No. 2, which was an improved version of the original. This modification was designed for operations with 31-bit numbers and could bring any 7th order polynomial into tabular form. The design was elegantly simple and required only a third of the parts of the original model, while providing equal processing power.

In difference and analytical machines Charles Babbage used the same output device design, which not only made a printout on paper, but also automatically created stereotypes and independently produced formatting according to the page layout specified by the operator. At the same time, it was possible to adjust the row height, the number of columns, the width of the fields, and provided automatic collapsing of rows or columns and placement of empty rows for ease of reading.

Heritage

Apart from a few partially completed mechanical assemblies and test models of small working sections, none of the designs were fully realized during Babbage's lifetime. The main model assembled in 1832 was 1/7 of the difference engine No. 1, which consisted of approximately 2 thousand parts. It works flawlessly to this day and is the first successful automatic computing device to implement mathematical calculations in a mechanism. Babbage died while a small experimental part of the Analytical Engine was being assembled. Many design details have been preserved, as has a complete archive of drawings and notes.

Babbage's designs for huge mechanical calculating machines are considered one of the stunning intellectual achievements of the 19th century. It is only in recent decades that his work has been studied in detail, and the importance of what he accomplished has become increasingly clear.