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Charles Babbage (1791-1871). Caricature of the English mathematician Charles Babbage. Babbage is best known for his pioneering work on programmable computers. Believing that a machine could calculate and produce numerical tables more quickly and reliably than the human computers of the time, Babbage designed the Difference Engine to compute values of polynomial functions. After this, Babbage drew plans for an Analytical Engine which could be programmed using punch cards. Neither engine was built to completion until 1991, when London's Science Museum build a Difference Engine from Babbage's plans. Despite this, Babbage was awarded the Royal Astronomical Society's Gold Medal for his Difference Engine, which would have been able to generate mathematical (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/GARY BROWN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)