The father of computing history: Charles Babbage by Anja Jentzsch

Charles Babbage ( ) born: 12/26/1791 son of a London banker Trinity College, Cambridge Lucasian Professorship Mathematician and Scientist

Difference Engine 1822 plan for calculating and printing mathematical tables like they were used in the navy using the method of difference, based on polynomial functions

Difference Engine 1822design 6 decimal places with second- order difference 1830engine with 20 decimal places and a sixth-order difference 1830end of work on the difference engine because of a dispute with his chief engineer

1834plans for an improved device, capable of calculating any mathematical function increase of calculating speed never completed Analytical Engine

Analytical Engine - Architecture separation of storage and calculation: –store –mill control of operations by microprogram: –control barrels user program control using punched cards –operations cards –variable cards –number cards

more than 200 columns of gear trains and number wheels 16 column register (store 2 numbers) 50 register columns, with 40 decimal digits of precision counting apparatus to keep track of repetitions cycle time: 2.5 seconds to transfer a number from the store to a register in the mill addition: 3 seconds conditional statements Analytical Engine

First programmer – Ada Lovelace Ada Lady Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, was working with Babbage on the Analytical Engine first ideas of –algorithm representation –programming languages already realized: –program loops –conditional statements

Babbage’s meaning in history John von Neumann ( ): universal computing machine consisting of: –memory –input / output –arithmetic/logic unit (ALU) –control unit based on Babbage‘s ideas 95 % of modern computers are based on the von Neumann architecture

Babbage’s meaning in history Howard Aiken (1900 – 1973) developed the ASCC computer (Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator) –could carry out five operations, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and reference to previous results Aiken was much influenced by Babbage's writings he saw the ASCC computer as completing the task which Babbage had set out on but failed to complete