'''Charles Babbage''' was a pioneer of [[computer|computation]], in addition to being a prolific [[inventor]], a [[mathematics|mathematician]], scientist, political economist and critic of the scientific establishment. His controversial book ''Reflections on the Decline of Science in England'', published in 1830, was so influential that only a year later the British Association for the Advancement of Science was formed. He published six full-length works and nearly ninety papers between 1813 and 1868, including 1834’s ''Economy of Machinery and Manufacturers'', an influential work that proposed an early form of operational research. | '''Charles Babbage''' was a pioneer of [[computer|computation]], in addition to being a prolific [[inventor]], a [[mathematics|mathematician]], scientist, political economist and critic of the scientific establishment. His controversial book ''Reflections on the Decline of Science in England'', published in 1830, was so influential that only a year later the British Association for the Advancement of Science was formed. He published six full-length works and nearly ninety papers between 1813 and 1868, including 1834’s ''Economy of Machinery and Manufacturers'', an influential work that proposed an early form of operational research. |