Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 1: Pre-Modern Era (Pre-1850)
1834
Charles Babbage Develops His Analytical Engine
Foundational to the development of cybernetics, this unrealized mechanical computer aimed to use punch cards, inspired by the Jacquard Loom, to perform calculations.
One of the earliest designs for a programmable computer, it also had a significant impact on the development of modern computers and programming languages.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
Sources
People
Movements
cybernetics, Computing Machinery
Filed under
- Ideas
- computation
- Technologies
- Analytical Engine, cybernetics, Jacquard loom, programming, punch cards
- People
- Charles Babbage
Related moments
Echoes across time
- 1957 · John Backus Releases FORTRAN
- 1968 · The Art of Computer Programming by Donald E. Knuth
- 1951 · Edmund C. Berkeley Begins Publishing Computers and Automation
Le Random editorials
- Timeline Chapter 1: Ten Top Moments, Peter Bauman, September 6, 2023
- Rhea Myers on Code as Cultural Material, Peter Bauman, September 26, 2023
Le Random podcast
- Timeline Ch 1—Pre-Modern Era with Marius Watz — listen with transcript on Le Random (06 Jul 2023, 46 min). Transcript mentions Charles Babbage. Chapter 1’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify