From the Beginning...

Having spent a great deal of my life tinkering with computers in one way or another, I’ve always wondered what the mechanical process underlying modern computers might look like. When I first learned programming, I realized that at some point there must be a sum of my coding broken down into mechanical actions or some other physical sequence. Although still a ways off from the modern computer chip, I find Babbage’s models fascinating as it begins to answer my questions about the functional origin of computers.  

It is made clear that Babbage was somewhat of a perfectionist, and placed high demands on himself and those around him. I find it interesting that Babbage would abandon his Difference Engine after having investing so much time and energy. Although the work he put into its design was somewhat transferrable to the Analytical Engine, it is hard to imagine someone that invested leaving a major task unfinished. I’m a bit surprised that something as seemingly trivial as a poor relationship with an engineer could be sufficient to derail the entire enterprise. What doesn’t surprise me is that he returned to the design of a new Difference Engine toward the end of his life.

The technical nature of the description of the designs in the work of Babbage and others is hard to understand, but it still gives an impression of the volume of time and intensity of concentration that went into these inventions. The foundational steps leading to Turning’s research and modern computing is an interesting read.