The greatest contraption that never was - John Graham-Cumming episode artwork

EPISODE · May 22, 2026 · 14 MIN

The greatest contraption that never was - John Graham-Cumming

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Computer science began in the '30s ... the 1830s. John Graham-Cumming tells the story of Charles Babbage's mechanical, steam-powered "analytical engine" and how Ada Lovelace, mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron, saw beyond its simple computational abilities to imagine the future of computers. (Filmed at TEDxImperialCollege.)Talk by John Graham-Cumming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Computer science began in the '30s ... the 1830s. John Graham-Cumming tells the story of Charles Babbage's mechanical, steam-powered "analytical engine" and how Ada Lovelace, mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron, saw beyond its simple computational abilities to imagine the future of computers. (Filmed at TEDxImperialCollege.)Talk by John Graham-Cumming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The greatest contraption that never was - John Graham-Cumming

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This episode was published on May 22, 2026.

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Computer science began in the '30s ... the 1830s. John Graham-Cumming tells the story of Charles Babbage's mechanical, steam-powered "analytical engine" and how Ada Lovelace, mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron, saw beyond its simple...

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