The Analytical Engine

The Analytical Engine: Computers, Past, Present, and Future

Discusses the history of electronic computers; men important to their development; and their design, relation to the human brain, and service to science and industry.

Sketch of the Analytical Engine invented by Charles Babbage ... with notes by the translator. Extracted from the 'Scientific Memoirs,' etc. [The translator's notes signed: A.L.L. ie. Augusta Ada King, Countess Lovelace.]

Babbage's Calculating Engines

The famous and prolific nineteenth-century mathematician, engineer and inventor Charles Babbage (1791-1871) was an early pioneer of computing. He planned several calculating machines, but none was built in his lifetime. On his death his youngest son, Henry P. Babbage, was charged with the task of completing an unfinished volume of papers on the machines, which was finally published in 1889 and is reissued here. The papers, by a variety of authors, were collected from journals including The Philosophical Magazine, The Edinburgh Review and Scientific Memoirs. They relate to the construction and potential application of Charles Babbage's calculating engines, notably the Difference Engine and the more complex Analytical Engine, which was to be programmed using punched cards. The book also includes correspondence with members of scientific societies, as well as proceedings, catalogues and drawings. Included is a complete catalogue of the drawings of the Analytical Engine.