A numerical table is a tool designed to save the time and labor of those engaged in computing work. The oldest tables which are preserved, were compiled in Babylon in the period 1800-1500 B.C. They ...

Throughout history, humans have made independent, more or less simultaneous discoveries and inventions. For example, Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz discovered calculus, Charles Darwin and ...

Ada Lovelace, daughter of poet Lord Byron and mathematician Annabella Milbanke, became the world's first programmer in 1843 with her algorithm for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. Learning to ...

Charles Babbage is widely recognized as a pioneer of the programable computer due to his ingenious designs for steam-driven calculating machines in the 19th century. But Babbage drew inspiration from ...

An early calculator designed by Charles Babbage and subsidized by the British government. Employing wheels and rods, which others had experimented with earlier, the project was started in 1821 but ...

Ada Lovelace was the world's first computer programmer, writing algorithms for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine: a 19th century calculator that was far ahead of its time. A rare, first-edition copy ...

Many fields of science have a foundational document: Isaac Newton’s Principia for the physics of classical mechanics, for example, or Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species for evolutionary biology ...

These objects, held in London's Science Museum, have some significant purpose — or curiosity value — in the history of physics. Can you guess what they are? This was the first fully automated ...

A rare 175 year-old book containing the world's first computer algorithm by Ada Lovelace – mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron – has been sold at auction in England for £95,000 (US$125,000). Only ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I cover the history of science and exploration. The second Tuesday in October is Ada Lovelace Day, a day to celebrate and ...