SMS scnews item created by Duncan Sutherland at Tue 11 Oct 2011 1706
Type: Seminar
Distribution: World
Expiry: 18 Oct 2011
Calendar1: 13 Oct 2011 1300-1400
CalLoc1: New Law 026
Auth: duncans@p80714.pc.maths.usyd.edu.au

SUMS: Georgina Wilcox -- The computing engines of Charles Babbage

 Charles Babbage (1791 - 1871) is commonly described as a "father of computing" due to
his invention of the mechanical Difference Engine and the more ambitious plans for the
so-called Analytical Engine, neither of which were completed in his lifetime.  I will
briefly describe the operation of these machines, and also discuss the involvement of
Ada Lovelace (1815-1852), who designed the first algorithms for the Analytical Engine.