who designed calculating machines that anticipated the principles of modern computers. Educated at Cambridge University, he was a fellow of the Royal Society from 1816 and Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge (1828–39). Babbage sought to create a machine that could calculate and print numerical tables (mathematical tables, navigational tables, etc.) automatically, thus eliminating the high error rate inevitable in human calculation. His Difference Engine, conceived in 1821, could calculate a series of polynomial functions from initial values set by the operator; a later simplified version, Difference Engine 2, was designed around 1847–49. The Analytical Engine, conceived around 1834, was a general-purpose arithmetical calculator that could be programmed by punched cards. It included separate memory and processing units, and its programming capabilities included loops and conditional jumps. However, neither machine was actually constructed in Babbage’s lifetime and they were largely forgotten after his death. Although his work is now credited as a forerunner of the modern computer—the London Science Museum constructed a working replica of Difference Engine 2 in 1991 to celebrate the bicentenary of his birth—his significance in the development of computing is questionable.