Percy Ludgate (1883–1922), Ireland's first computer designer

Abstract

Abstract:A greatly expanded treatment is presented of the history of the family, life and work of Percy Ludgate, nearly 50 years after the 1971 and 1982 papers by Brian Randell revealed his work on a mechanical computer, and almost 100 years after Ludgate's death. The new material that has recently been obtained about this successor of Charles Babbage includes two very significant discoveries. The first is of a hitherto unknown contemporary published description of Ludgate's Analytical Machine, incorporating the only surviving drawing of it yet found; the second is of American descendants of Ludgate's niece, who have been allowed to erect a commemorative headstone on his previously unmarked grave.This is an open access article licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International License. Open Access funding provided by IReL.