Babbage and Aiken

Abstract

Because Howard H. Aiken expressed such an admiration for the ideas of Charles Babbage, the machine he conceived - brought into being through the engineering talents of IBM (the Mark I or ASCC) - is often cited as an example of Babbage's dream come true. This article explores the depth and extent of Aiken's knowledge of Babbage's ideas, the stage of his own thinking when he first encountered Babbage's writings, and the way in which he found out about Babbage.