• Question: Who was the inventor of the computer?

    Asked by 759hrtd24 to Cristina, Gemma, Loan, Michael, Praveen on 17 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Gemma Barron

      Gemma Barron answered on 17 Nov 2015:

      Hi @759hrtd24,
      Thank you for your interesting question. I’m not an expert on computers and I had to ask my husband for the answer but, the inventor of the first general purpose programmable computer was Charles Babbage, an English mechanical engineer, in 1833. Amazing that it was invented so long ago and that they are so important in all of our lives today 🙂 Thanks, Gemma

    • Photo: Loan Nguyen

      Loan Nguyen answered on 17 Nov 2015:

      Hi,
      I have heard this dispute recently on the radio on my drive home. Charles Babbage is the person who took credit for the pioneering design of the first ‘computer’. However, there is now evidence suggesting that much of this credit should also be shared with a woman call Ada Lovelace. Ada Lovelace was working for Charles Babbage at the time he was working on the design of the computer, but being a woman in those primitive days meant that her work and intellectual contribution was never made clear.

      100 later, Alan Turing (mathematician from the University of Manchester – Where i proudly work :)), developed these ideas and brought about the computing era. There is a film call The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch which re-tells the story of Alan Turing and the birth of computer science if you are interested in finding out more. I have not seen the film myself so cannot comment on how true it is.

      Loan

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