1830s Computer Finally
Being Built
Technology projects are notorious for being late, but 180 years? That’s how long it has taken for construction to begin on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine.
Babbage was Lucasian Professor at Cambridge University, a position also held by Sir Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking. Babbage designed and began construction of a programmable computing machine called the Analytical Engine. Due to repeated design changes and loss of funding, it was never finished.
An article in the New York Times, It Started Digital Wheels Turning, describes a project being undertaken at London’s Science Museum to build the machine. One of the problems is that Babbage did not leave a complete set of final plans. The museum’s web site has more information about Babbage and his machines.
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