Charles Babbage dreamed up a form of computer in the 1830s. His ideas lay dormant until digital machines became a reality in the 1940s. Professor Wilkes, one of those responsible for the implementation of the digital computer, describes some of the prehistory and early history.
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Wilkes, M. How Babbage's dream came true. Nature 257, 541–544 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1038/257541a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/257541a0
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