In researching computing history, many sources have shown that the title of "inventor of the computer" cannot go to just one person. Many people throughout time have dedicated their lives to developing theories and inventions that put the modern day computer together. These inventions include but are not limited to the keyboard, the mouse, and the microchip. Although inventions materially put together the computer, many years of work have been put in to develop theories on how to make it work. The computer is a complex machine that, over the decades, was put together piece by piece.
"Historically, computers were human clerks who calculated in accordance with effective methods. These human computers did the sorts of calculation nowadays carried out by electronic computers, and many thousands of them were employed in commerce, government, and research establishments" (The Modern History n.p.).
It is commonly believed that the automation of computers began with the words, "I wish to God these calculations had been performed by steam!" when they were spoken by Charles Babbage (1791-1871). By 1812, Babbage had noticed that mathematics and machine were meant to work with each other. He saw that many mathematical problems had to be solved through a "simple repetition of steps" (Computers: History n.p.).
Babbage invented his first calculating machine that solved differential equations and dubbed it the "differential machine." All of his work would not have been possible if it hadn"t have been for one woman. Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1842) and daughter of English poet Lord Byron, helped Babbage invent many machines. She was one of the few people that understood the way an engine worked just as well as Babbage did. For this, she is now titled to be the first female computer programmer (Computers: History n.p.).
Early in the 20th century, a man named Alan Turing became widely considered as the father of modern computer science.
