Charles Babbage Inventions

There are some figures out of history that not only offer us captivating story to read about, they also contributed to society through the things that they invented. Charles Babbage was one of these individuals and although he was born over 200 years ago, he came to develop what was the world's first programmable computer. Unfortunately, many of these Charles Babbage inventions were only in the concept stage during his time because he wasn't able to see them to completion because of financial difficulties.

Charles Babbage was a mathematician by nature and he'd used his love for mathematics along with an interest in engineering in order to develop a mechanical computer. One of the things that frustrated this man is that there was a lot of human error that came as a result of their being unable to calculate things mechanically. He had a lot of experience in working with logarithmic tables as well as being familiar with several other calculators that had been developed previously. His design of one of the first computers in order to help make these large calculations was never completed, because of some funding problems that he was experiencing. Some of the important features of this computer, however, was the fact that the data was separated from the program memory along with its ability to make conditional jumps.

Another of the Charles Babbage inventions that never really came to fruition, although the idea behind it was mechanically sound is that of the difference engine. This was a very complex calculator that was able to do mathematical functions that were simply not able to be done automatically during that day. Although this invention was never developed, the plan was put it to the test in the late 20th century, using information that would have made it accurate according to his day's standards. At its initial test, it was able to return results to some 31 digits, more than most modern calculators are able to do.

One more invention that also was never developed is that of the analytical engine. Instead of being a single machine that calculated numbers, this was several different machines that could be programmed through the use of punch cards. This entire concept was so far ahead of its time that it had never even have been heard up until that point. Although this is another of the Charles Babbage inventions that was never developed, it is amazing that he was able to conceive the idea in the first place.