Charles Babbage

Charles Babbage (1791-1871) was a British mathematician, philosopher, inventor, and mechanical engineer, often referred to as the "father of the computer." He is best known for conceptualizing and designing the first mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. The Analytical Engine, proposed in the 1830s, incorporated elements necessary for a modern computer, such as an arithmetic logic unit, control flow via conditional branching and loops, and memory.