Fingers Crossed for 2021 ...

2020 was the worst! COVID kept the museum closed for much of the year and a mains water pipe bursting causing a flood kept us closed for the rest.
We're hoping to re-open in the next few months ... fingers crossed! Read More >>>

No visitors, no workshops, no events, no school visits... no income. We know that things are tough for everyone right now, but if you can afford to help us through these tough times please donate what you can.

There's over 36,000 exhibits here! That should keep you occupied for a bit - get searching!

Or come and get involved on our social media channels ...

Thank you.

Charles Babbage published a paper describing a mechanical computer that is now known as the Analytical Engine

December 1837
Charles Babbage published a paper describing a mechanical computer that is now known as the Analytical Engine

In December 1837, the British mathematician Charles Babbage published a paper describing a mechanical computer that is now known as the Analytical Engine. Anyone intimate with the details of electronic computers will instantly recognize the components of Babbage's machine. Although Babbage was designing with brass and iron, his Engine has a central processing unit (which he called the mill) and a large amount of expandable memory (which he called the store). The operation of the Engine is controlled by program stored on punched cards, and punched cards can also be used to input data