Charles Babbage, FRS (26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath.
He was a
mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, who is best remembered now for
originating the concept of a programmable computer.Considered a "father of the computer", Babbage is
credited with inventing the first mechanical computer that eventually led to more complex designs. His
varied work in other fields has led him to be described as "pre-eminent" among the many polymaths of
his century.
Parts of Babbage's uncompleted mechanisms are on display in the London Science Museum. In 1991, a
perfectly functioning difference engine was constructed from Babbage's original plans. Built to
tolerances achievable in the 19th century, the success of the finished engine indicated that Babbage's
machine would have worked.
Early life
Babbage's birthplace is disputed, but according to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography he was
most likely born at 44 Crosby Row, Walworth Road, London, England.A blue plaque on the junction of
Larcom Street and Walworth Road commemorates the event.His date of birth was given in his obituary
in The Times as 26 December 1792; but then a nephew wrote to say that Babbage was born one year
earlier, in 1791. The parish register of St. Mary's Newington, London, shows that Babbage was baptised
on 6 January 1792, supporting a birth year of 1791.
At the University of Cambridge
Babbage arrived at Trinity College, Cambridge, in October 1810. He was already self-taught in some parts
of contemporary mathematics;he had read in Robert Woodhouse, Joseph Louis Lagrange, and Marie
Agnesi. As a result he was disappointed in the standard mathematical instruction available at Cambridge.
After Cambridge
Considering only his reputation, Babbage quickly made progress. He lectured to the Royal Institution on
astronomy in 1815, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1816.After graduation, on the other
hand, he applied for positions unsuccessfully, and had little in the way of career. In 1816 he was a
candidate for a teaching job at Haileybury College; he had recommendations from James Ivory and John
Playfair, but lost out to Henry Walter.In 1819, Babbage and Herschel visited Paris and the Society of
Arcueil, meeting leading French mathematicians and physicists.That year Babbage applied to be
professor at the University of Edinburgh, with the recommendation of Pierre Simon Laplace; the post
went to William Wallace.
Astronomical Society
Babbage was instrumental in founding the Astronomical Society in 1820. Its initial aims were to reduce
astronomical calculations to a more standard form, and to circulate data.These directions were closely
connected with Babbage's ideas on computation, and in 1824 he won its Gold Medal, cited "for his
invention of an engine for calculating mathematical and astronomical tables".
"Babbage principle"
In Economy of Machinery was described what is now called the "Babbage principle". It pointed out
commercial advantages available with more careful division of labour. As Babbage himself noted, it had
already appeared in the work of Melchiorre Gioia in 1815.The term was introduced in 1974 by Harry
Braverman.Related formulations are the "principle of multiples" of Philip Sargant Florence, and the
"balance of processes".
Death
Charles Babbage's brain is on display at The Science Museum
Babbage lived and worked for over 40 years at 1 Dorset Street, Marylebone, where he died, at the age of
79, on 18 October 1871; he was buried in London's Kensal Green Cemetery. According to Horsley,
Babbage died "of renal inadequacy, secondary to cystitis."He had declined both a knighthood and
baronetcy. He also argued against hereditary peerages, favoring life peerages instead.In 1983 the
autopsy report for Charles Babbage was discovered and later published by his great-great-grandson.A
copy of the original is also available.Half of Babbage's brain is preserved at the Hunterian Museum in the
Royal College of Surgeons in London.The other half of Babbage's brain is on display in the Science
Museum, London.
Family
On 25 July 1814, Babbage married Georgiana Whitmore at St. Michael's Church in Teignmouth, Devon;
her sister Louisa married Edward Ryan.The couple lived at Dudmaston Hall,Shropshire (where Babbage
engineered the central heating system), before moving to 5 Devonshire Street, Portland Place,
London.Charles and Georgiana had eight children,but only four — Benjamin Herschel, Georgiana
Whitmore, Dugald Bromhead and Henry Prevost — survived childhood. Charles' wife Georgiana died in
Worcester on 1 September 1827, the same year as his father, their second son (also named Charles) and
their newborn son Alexander.
