What is Charles Babbage?
{{Infobox scientist | honorific_prefix = [[Sir]] | name = Charles Babbage | image = CharlesBabbage.jpg | caption = Charles Babbage | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1791|12|26}} | birth_place = London (likely [[Southwark]]) | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1871|10|18|1791|12|26}} | death_place = [[Marylebone]], London, UK | nationality = English | citizenship = British | field = Mathematics, engineering, political economy, computer science | work_institutions = [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] | alma_mater = [[Peterhouse, Cambridge]] | known_for = [[Difference engine]] | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KH|FRS}} | footnotes = | signature = Charles Babbage Signature.svg }} '''Sir Charles Babbage''' (26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an [[England|English]] [[mathematician]], [[analytic philosophy|analytical philosopher]], [[mechanical engineer]] and [[computer scientist]]. He was the first person to invent the idea of a [[computer]] that could be programmed. Unfinished parts of his mechanisms are on display in the [[London Science Museum]]. Charles Babbage was born in [[England]], at 44 Crosby Row, [[Walworth Road]], [[London]]. Babbage's father, [[Benjamin Babbage]], was a banker in London who owned the Bitton Estate in [[Teignmouth]]. His mother was Betsy Plumleigh Babbage. In 1808, the Babbage family moved into the old Rowdens house in East [[Teignmouth]]. His Brain is also on display in the Science Museum in London. == Works == Babbage worked and wrote on many ideas of science, engineering and mathematics, but he is most famous for two machines he started and never finished. His [[Difference Engine]] would have been a much better [[calculator]] than any made before then. His [[Analytical Engine]] would have been the first real computer. Knowing that there were many errors in the calculation of [[Table (information)|mathematical tables]], Babbage wanted to find a way to calculate them mechanically, removing errors made by humans. Three different factors seem to have influe