In 1822, Charles Babbage completed his "Difference Engine," a machine which could be used to perform calculations of simple tables. The Difference Engine was a complex assembly of wheels, gears, and ratchets engineered to exacting specifications. It laid the foundation for Babbage to design his "Analytical Engine," a general-purpose device which was to be capable of performing any type of mathematical calculation. The plans of the analytical engine were the first clear conceptualization of a machine which could perform the type of computations which is now considered at the heart of computing. Babbage never built his analytical engine, but its design influenced all modern digital computers which were to follow. The analytical engine was finally built by a team of engineers in 1989, over a hundred years after Babbage's death in 1871. For his insight, Babbage today is known as the "Father of Modern Computers."
