Charles Babbage

Charles Babbage (1791–1871) was an English mathematician, inventor and engineer, often called the father of the computer. Educated at Cambridge, where he later held the Lucasian chair of mathematics, he designed the Difference Engine to calculate mathematical tables mechanically and then the Analytical Engine, a programmable general-purpose machine that was never completed but anticipated the principles of modern computing; Ada Lovelace wrote her celebrated notes on it. He also wrote On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures (1832), helped found the Astronomical and Statistical Societies, and waged a long and famous campaign against London's street musicians.