Charles Babbage

The Life and Legacy of the Father of Modern Computers

By: Charles River Editors

Narrated by: Colin Fluxman

“If unwarned by my example, any man shall undertake and shall succeed in really constructing an engine...upon difference principles or by simpler means, I have no fear of leaving my reputation in his charge, for he alone will be fully able to appreciate the nature of my efforts and the value of their results...” (Charles Babbage)

In the last 50 years, life has been simplified by the awe-inspiring advancements that have been achieved in the world of computer science and technology. In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak unveiled the Apple I, the first-ever computer that operated on a single-circuit board, just five years after a team of IBM engineers introduced the “floppy disk,” which revolutionized data-sharing. In 1981, the first personal computer - IBM's Acorn - equipped with an optional color monitor, two floppy disks, and an intel chip was rolled out to the masses, and the dynamic evolution of the world wide web soon followed.

Today, the world is in the midst of the transformative and ever-developing Digital Age, otherwise referred to as the “Age of Information". It has been an unprecedented, remarkable, and explosive era marked by social media and computer-generated imagery (and with it, deep fakes), among other novel, previously unimaginable concepts.

The bulky monitors and blocky towers of personal computers and laptops, which were - once upon a time - considered fashionable, futuristic contraptions, have since been replaced with a sleek and stylish array - both multi-functional and specialized - of aerodynamic, minimalistic devices, ranging from smartphones and tablets to lightweight laptops and full-fledged gaming setups packed with powerhouse processors.

While many are familiar with those facts, and a recent movie revived interest in Alan Turing’s achievements with computing during World War II, it was Charles Babbage who was the first to conceive the notion of a programmable and automatic universal computer, which, on top of its ability to calculate any mathematical equation at an unmatched speed, could also be used for a seemingly infinite number of other applications. In other words, he envisioned the precursor to the modern computer.

At first blush, Babbage hardly seemed the type, because in many ways, Babbage was the antithesis of the debonair, silver-tongued, and effortlessly charismatic CEOs of present-day tech giants. Babbage was a quirky individual, to say the least. He was highly observant, but was in the same breath a habitual daydreamer, often caught in a trance of deep thought. He spoke with a stutter, cared little about his appearance, often sporting stained collars and rumpled coats, and in his later years, became something of an agoraphobe, developing a disdain for crowds and music.

Indeed, his unquenchable thirst for knowledge and his brilliant mind were unparalleled, but this was paired with his restless, addictive, and extreme nature, as well as his obsession with precision and factual accuracy. This was the same man who once reached out to celebrated poet Alfred Tennyson and requested the wordsmith to correct the wording of his poem “The Vision of Sin". A letter to England’s legendary poet read, “In your otherwise beautiful poem, one verse reads: 'Every moment dies a man, every moment one is born'...If this were true, the population of the world would be at a standstill. In truth, the rate of birth is slightly in excess of that of death. I would suggest that the next version...should read: 'Every moment dies a man, every moment 1 1/16 is born."

©2020 Charles River Editors (P)2020 Charles River Editors