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The analytical engine was a proposed digital mechanical general-purpose computer designed by English mathematician and computer pioneer Charles Babbage. [2] [3] It was first described in 1837 as the successor to Babbage's Difference Engine, which was a design for a simpler mechanical calculator.
Babbage went on to design his much more general analytical engine, but later designed an improved "Difference Engine No. 2" design (31-digit numbers and seventh-order differences), [9] between 1846 and 1849. Babbage was able to take advantage of ideas developed for the analytical engine to make the new difference engine calculate more quickly ...
Ada Lovelace. In 1840, Charles Babbage was invited to give a seminar in Turin on his analytical engine, [12] the only public explanation he ever gave on the engine. [13] During Babbage's lecture, mathematician Luigi Menabrea wrote an account of the engine in French. [12]
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 27 January 2025. English mathematician, philosopher, and engineer (1791–1871) "Babbage" redirects here. For other uses, see Babbage (disambiguation). Charles Babbage KH FRS Babbage in 1860 Born (1791-12-26) 26 December 1791 London, England Died 18 October 1871 (1871-10-18) (aged 79) Marylebone, London ...
Difference Engine, 1822 – Charles Babbage's mechanical device to calculate polynomials. Analytical Engine, 1837 – A later Charles Babbage device that could be said to encapsulate most of the elements of modern computers. Odhner Arithmometer, 1873 – W. T. Odhner's calculator who had millions of clones manufactured until the 1970s.
BBC Books, 1993. With Jon Palfreman. ISBN 978-0-563-36992-9. Charles Babbage and his Calculating Engines, Science Museum, London, 1998. ISBN 978-0-901805-45-4. The Cogwheel Brain, Abacus, 2001. ISBN 978-0-349-11239-8. The Difference Engine: Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First Computer, Penguin Putnam, 2001. ISBN 978-0-670-91020-5.
Babbage conceived, and began to design, his decimal 'Analytical Engine'. [30] A program for it was to be stored on read-only memory, in the form of punched cards. Babbage continued to work on the design for years, though after about 1840 design changes seem to have been minor.
Unfortunately, whilst Babbage managed to secure government funds for the construction of the machine, the government subsequently lost interest and Babbage faced considerable troubles developing the necessary machine components. He abandoned the project to pursue a new one, his Analytical Engine. By 1838, he had worked out the basic design.