Babbage, Charles
(1792–1871) British,Analysis
age, in a time when there was unbridled optimism in the potential of machinery to improve
civilization, Babbage was an advocate of mechanistic progress, and spent much of his lifetime
pursuing the invention of an “analytic engine.” Although his ambitious project eventually ended
in failure, his ideas were important to the subsequent develop of computer logic and technology.
Born on December 26, 1792, in Teignmouth, England, to affluent parents, Babbage exhibited
great curiosity for how things worked. He was educated privately by his parents, and by the
time he registered at Cambridge in 1810, he was far ahead of his peers. In fact, it seems that he
knew more than even his teachers, as mathematics in England had lagged far behind the rest
of Europe. Along with George Peacock and John Herschel, he campaigned vigorously for the resuscitationof English mathematics.
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