Charles Babbage (1791-1871)

He is acknowledged as a mathematician and the inventor of the first automatic digital computer.

Here is a list of his achievements:

• Helped found the Analytical Society whose ambition was to utilise the use of analytical calculus rather than Newtonian calculus.
• Founded the Royal Astronomical and Statistical societies.
• Created a calculator which could perform certain mathematical calculations up to 8 decimal places which was then upgraded to 20 decimal places.
• Devoted himself to mechanical engineering whilst teaching mathematics at the University of Cambridge.
• Developed plans for the Analytical Engine which was the start of the modern digital computer.

The Analytical Engine was never completed however his unpublished notebooks for it's design were found in 1937.

Difference Engine was also a invention that was verging on being the first computer  was on the verge of being the first computer but funding ran out in the 1820s. In 1991 British scientists built the Difference Engine No.2 to Babbage's designs which is accurate to 31 digits.

The Difference Engine is designed to tabulate polynomial functions which can be used to approximate both logarithmic and trigonometric functions.

The Analytical Engine was the upgrade to the Difference Engine. It had a control flow, arithmetical unit and integrated memory which can be found in all modern computers.