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Babbage Engine
The Babbage Engine was designed, but never fully constructed, by Charles Babbage in the early to mid 19th century. Its purpose was the automatic calculation of polynomials. Babbage also envisioned a more ambitious Analytical Engine that would be a programmable general-purpose computing machine. His goal was 'calculation by steam,' a technological innovation that would rectify all of the computational errors that plagued printed numerical tables. As such, Babbage's designs were meant to have far-reaching implications in various industries that relied on such computations. Although his machines were not built until recent years, Babbage is now acknowledged as a pioneer in computer history.
Even in this earliest age of research-oriented computer technology, there was potential for artistic applications. Ada Lovelace was a student of mathematics and admirer of Charles Babbage. She translated an article about Babbage's proposed Analytical Engine, to which she added her own notes. Significantly, Lovelace proposed that Babbage's machine could be used to manipulate symbols in a systematic way in order to produce music or language. WIth this proposition, Lovelace might have been the first person to suggest that computers be used to create new media art, long before such a medium could be identified.
Babbage Engine
The Babbage Engine was designed, but never fully constructed, by Charles Babbage in the early to mid 19th century. Its purpose was the automatic calculation of polynomials. Babbage also envisioned a more ambitious Analytical Engine that would be a programmable general-purpose computing machine. His goal was 'calculation by steam,' a technological innovation that would rectify all of the computational errors that plagued printed numerical tables. As such, Babbage's designs were meant to have far-reaching implications in various industries that relied on such computations. Although his machines were not built until recent years, Babbage is now acknowledged as a pioneer in computer history.
Even in this earliest age of research-oriented computer technology, there was potential for artistic applications. Ada Lovelace was a student of mathematics and admirer of Charles Babbage. She translated an article about Babbage's proposed Analytical Engine, to which she added her own notes. Significantly, Lovelace proposed that Babbage's machine could be used to manipulate symbols in a systematic way in order to produce music or language. WIth this proposition, Lovelace might have been the first person to suggest that computers be used to create new media art, long before such a medium could be identified.