> I'm confused though. Babbage came up with the blueprints for his Difference Engine in the 1820s. I know he never succeeded at actually building it, but he never really had a fair chance if you ask me.
Babbage had a chance to build his difference engine. The problem was that the engineering was a lot harder than he thought it was going to be, and he was a mathematician/economist, not so much a working engineer. The idea that if only he had had a better chance the difference engine would’ve been successful is just simply a misreading of what happened. It didn’t help that after the British government poured tens of thousands of pounds into the project Babbage suddenly decided to start pushing analytical engine before he had even finished the difference engine. That made it look like these were just wild, cockeyed schemes, when Babbage was supposed to be engaged in a practical, mechanical calculating project (to help reduce the labor expended on computing, for example, navigational tables).
Babbage had a chance to build his difference engine. The problem was that the engineering was a lot harder than he thought it was going to be, and he was a mathematician/economist, not so much a working engineer. The idea that if only he had had a better chance the difference engine would’ve been successful is just simply a misreading of what happened. It didn’t help that after the British government poured tens of thousands of pounds into the project Babbage suddenly decided to start pushing analytical engine before he had even finished the difference engine. That made it look like these were just wild, cockeyed schemes, when Babbage was supposed to be engaged in a practical, mechanical calculating project (to help reduce the labor expended on computing, for example, navigational tables).