Historic computer replica proposed London (UPI) Oct 14, 2010 A
campaign in Britain to build a room-sized prototype computer
first envisaged in 1837 is gathering momentum, computer
enthusiasts say. Offers of money and support to build a working
model of Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine have begun to come
in, and campaign organizers hope to gather donations from 50,000
supporters to launch the project, the BBC reported Thursday.
Mathematician and engineer Charles Babbage designed the
analytical engine, to be built of brass and iron and powered by
steam, on paper. Although elements and partial sections of the
engine have been built over the last 173 years, a complete
version has never been built. "It's an inspirational piece of
equipment," said John Graham-Cumming, author of the Geek Atlas,
who has supported the idea. "A hundred years ago, before
computers were available, [Babbage] had envisaged this machine."
Babbage's Analytical Engine is regarded as the first design for
a "general purpose computer" that co