The Difference Engine: Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First Computer

Hounded to death by organ grinders? Failed to build the engines that may have changed the world? Bunch of weird British engineer=historians try to build a maybe impossible machine from antique plans to prove you right by your 200th birthday? Awesome. Stole my title though...

Impressively readable account of Babbage's life, engines, and contributions to computing. The subject is handled objectively, not falling for the flat assertion that Babbage was the "father of computing" (and incidentally prompting a reappraisal of the role of Ada Lovelace); that said, the book still sets forth the tremendous (if isolated) contributions Babbage made to the idea of mechanised logic. The account of the construction of a Babbage difference engine at the
Science Museum is also fascinating, and makes me regret the loss of ICL.

A very well done account of Charles Babbage's attempts to design and build his Difference and Analytical Engines, followed by Swade's narration of the Science Museum's efforts to build an actual working model based on Babbage's designs. A good read filled with interesting details about Babbage's efforts and the practical difficulties of converting them from paper into reality.

The Difference Engine as designed and partially built in the 1830’s was a mechanical device of some 4000 moving parts that could perform automated mathematical functions (logarithmic, trigonometric and polynomial). The brain child of mathematician/inventor Charles Babbage, the machine was never completed during his lifetime. However in the late 1980’s a working model was produced to celebrate Babbage’s work—remaining largely loyal to the original design and production abilities of the 19th century craftsmen. This book details both the original genius of Babbage’s life and work as well the recreation of it over 150 years later. Unfortunately, the modern part of the book and the building of the machine is more compelling than show more the Babbage part. The author was involved in that part himself, and that closeness to the story gives the tale more life. The detailing of Babbage’s life shifts gears, often awkwardly, between being straight bio and workshop treatise. There is a level of reality created by going back and forth from Babbage’s funding problems and frustrations and his work in the shop, but I felt it diminished the work in the shop greater than necessary. I would have appreciated more effort explaining the theories and processes involved in the ground breaking work and less on what an irritation Babbage could be to those around him. The idea of someone attempting to build a computer in the early part of the 19th century is fascinating (as anyone interested in the creative genre of steampunk already knows), and this book does percolate on occasion but not nearly as often as I wanted. The parallel frustrations of Babbage in the 1830’s and the author in the 1980’s at attempting to get their machines built was interesting too but by the time the machine was built, I was ready to move on. show less

This is 2/3 a biography of Charles Babbage and his efforts to produce a calculating machine, and 1/3 a dry discussion of the author's inclusion in an effort to build the machine (which never got fully built in Babbage's day). This can be pretty safely skipped if you're just interested in Babbage, the machine did work in the end.

Although some of the prose was a bit dry, Swade managed to make the case the Babbage was not just some eccentric genius that everyone else willfully ignored. Lack of money was definitely a major reason why the difference engine wasn't completed, but Swade shows other reasons that may have contributed. Babbage was complex, surprisingly sociable, stubborn, and outspoken. His personality and views may have rubbed others, particularly influential others, in the wrong direction. The Difference Engine isn't exactly light reading, but it will be definitely of interest to those who want to look beyond the current fad for Babbage inspired steampunk aesthetic. (more)

Very enjoyable popular accound of Charles Babbage's attempts to build a calculating machine in the early 19th century, and then the Science Museum of London's attempt to build one based on his drawings.