Analytical Engine[edit]
In 1837, Charles Babbage was inspired by Jacquard's loom to attempt to build the Analytical Engine.[3] The names of the components of the calculating device were borrowed from the textile industry. In the textile industry, yarn was brought from the store to be milled. The device would have had a "store"—memory to hold 1,000 numbers of 40 decimal digits each. Numbers from the "store" would then have then been transferred to the "mill" (analogous to the CPU of a modern machine), for processing. It was programmed using two sets of perforated cards—one to direct the operation and the other for the input variables.[3] [4] However, after more than 17,000 pounds of the British government's money, the thousands of cogged wheels and gears never fully worked together.[5]
