Charles Babbage

Charles Babbage (December 26 1791 – October 18 1871) was an English mathematician, analytical philosopher and (proto-) computer scientist who originated the idea of a programmable computer. Parts of his uncompleted mechanisms are on display in the London Science Museum. In 1991, working from Babbage's original plans, a difference engine was completed, and functioned perfectly. It was built to tolerances achievable in the 19th century, indicating that Babbage's machine would have worked.

Life

Charles Babbage was born in London on December 26, 1791, most likely

Related Topics:
London - December 26 - 1791

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at 44 Crosby Row, Walworth Road, London. His father, Benjamin Babbage, was a banking partner of the Praeds who owned the Bitton Estate in Teignmouth. His mother was Betsy Plumleigh Babbage. In 1808 the Babbage family moved into the old Rowdens house in East Teignmouth, and Benjamin Babbage became a warden of the nearby St. Michael?s Church.

Related Topics:
Teignmouth - 1808

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Education

His father's money allowed Charles to receive instruction from several schools and tutors during the course of his elementary education. Around age eight he was sent to a country school to recover from a life-threatening fever. His parents ordered that his "brain was not to be taxed too much" and Babbage felt that "this great idleness may have led to some of my childish reasonings." He was sent to King Edward VI Grammar School in Totnes, South Devon, a thriving comprehensive school still extant today, but his health forced him back to private tutors for a time. He then joined a 30-student academy under Reverend Stephen Freeman. The academy had a well-stocked library that prompted Babbage's love of mathematics. He studied with two more private tutors after leaving the academy. Of the first, a clergyman near Cambridge, Babbage said, "I fear I did not derive from it all the advantages that I might have done." The second was an Oxford tutor from whom Babbage learned enough of the Classics to be accepted to Cambridge.

Related Topics:
Totnes - South Devon

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Babbage arrived at Trinity College, Cambridge in October 1810. He had read extensively in Leibniz, Lagrange, Simpson, and Lacroix and was seriously disappointed in the mathematical instruction available at Cambridge. In response, he, John Herschel, George Peacock, and several other friends formed the Analytical Society.

Related Topics:
Trinity College - Cambridge - 1810 - Leibniz - Lagrange - Simpson - Lacroix - John Herschel - George Peacock - Analytical Society

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In 1812 Babbage transferred to Peterhouse, Cambridge. He was the top mathematician at Peterhouse, but failed to graduate with honours. He instead received an honorary degree without examination in 1814.

Related Topics:
1812 - Peterhouse - Cambridge

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Marriage

On July 25, 1814, Charles Babbage married Georgiana Whitmore at St. Michael's Church in Teignmouth, Devon. His father did not approve of the marriage. The couple lived happily at 5 Devonshire Street, Portland Place, London. They had eight children, but only three lived to adulthood. Charles' father, his wife Georgiana Babbage, and one son all died in 1827.

Related Topics:
July 25 - 1814 - Teignmouth - Devon - 1827

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Children

• Benjamin Herschel Babbage (born 6 August 1815)
• Charles Whitmore Babbage (born 22 January 1817)
• Georgiana Whitmore Babbage (born 17 July 1818)
• Edward Stewart Babbage (born 15 December 1819)
• Francis Moore Babbage (born 1 June 1821)
• Dugald Bromheald Babbage (born 13 March 1823)
• Henry Prevost Babbage (born 16 September 1824)
• Alexander Forbes Babbage (born 1827)
• Timothy Grant Babbage (born1829)