I don't think he's necessarily the inventor of the computer. There are a few possible candidates, including Ada Lovelace or Charles Babbage, who were earlier.
this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2025
1 points (100.0% liked)
Science Memes
16019 readers
241 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
He’s the one who properly started computer theory, I suppose
The first functioning programmable computer was Zuse's Z3.
The Z3 was relay based in 1941. (Germans)
Collosus was 1943 and based on valves. (British)
The Harvard MK1 was in 1944. (Americans)
There was a lot of parallel development going on at the time, all converging on solutions.
Babbage invented the computer, Ada invented the programming language that would be used to program it. She even wrote the first ever bug in it.
https://twobithistory.org/2018/08/18/ada-lovelace-note-g.html
"In her “diagram of development,” Lovelace gives the fourth operation as v5 / v4. But the correct ordering here is v4 / v5. This may well have been a typesetting error and not an error in the program that Lovelace devised. All the same, this must be the oldest bug in computing. I marveled that, for ten minutes or so, unknowingly, I had wrestled with this first ever bug."
That wasn't the first bug; it couldn't have been because the term hadn't been coined yet. It was just the first programming mistake.
The first computer bug was found by Grace Hopper, and was caused by an actual insect that had gotten into the machine.
Lou Gehrig was the first person to get Lou Gehrig's disease.
This is a myth; the term "bug" for mistake predates the famous moth incident.
load more comments
(1 replies)
While Ada Lovelace did not actually help inventing the Analytical Engine, she was arguably a greater visionary than Charles Babbage, who, as I understand it, mostly thought of it in terms of calculations.
This is what she wrote in 1842, one hundred years before the first general purpose computer was actually built (Babbage's Analytical Engine was never built):
[The Analytical Engine] might act upon other things besides number, were objects found whose mutual fundamental relations could be expressed by those of the abstract science of operations, and which should be also susceptible of adaptations to the action of the operating notation and mechanism of the engine...Supposing, for instance, that the fundamental relations of pitched sounds in the science of harmony and of musical composition were susceptible of such expression and adaptations, the engine might compose elaborate and scientific pieces of music of any degree of complexity or extent.
babbage: the calculator lovelace: the programming language turing: the computer science
Alan Turing, the father of modern computers, has an incredibly depressing ending.
Chemically castrated due to being an illegal homosexual, he died in dishonor over bullshit homophobia and new drugs that the 1950s possessed.
And it wasn't until late 2013 that he was pardoned for the crime of "being gay", and ironically TERF island has only gotten worse since then.
i find it hard to say terf island has gotten worse since the 1950s.
i find it hard to say terf island has gotten worse since the 1950s.
I meant since 2013, because yeah, it did get better for a little while. And now they're policing the bathrooms.
ah! got it
load more comments
(1 replies)
but we avenged him by turning computers gay
Every UNIX socks post is in memory of Turing. If you don’t agree you’re gay. And if you do agree you’re gay too. Computers are gay and by using one, you’re gay. Jokes on you, by reading this, you’re using a computer. You’re gay. That’s the actual Turing test
turing completemess refers to the idea that any computational system capable of universal data manipulation is completely gay
Alan Turing was the father of computer science, but didn't invent the first computer. Arguably the first computer was called the Manchester Baby and was created by folks at the University of Manchester.
Alan Turing was an absolute boss, though. Huge respect.
Turing wrote the third (and final) program for the Baby.
I heard Turing also wrote Rockstar (ft. Roddy Ricch) for DaBaby
The ENIAC was before that and Charles Babbage's difference engine was before the ENIAC, though I don't think he actually got it out of design
Also before the ENIAC was the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC)
Not one I was familiar with, thanks for sharing!
Yeah, there were plenty of precursors (hence the MB was arguably the first). But the Manchester Baby was the first stored-program general purpose computer. Gotta pick a point somewhere.
I think it's a fun debate between all of them. It doesn't really matter, but I enjoy reading the reasoning behind each argument.
Yeah, the whole history is fascinating. I also like to remind my college students that computer science/engineering is one of the rare branches of science/engineering that was founded at least in equal part by women, if not more (again, an arguable point, but undeniable that there is a larger influence from women compared to other scientific disciplines).
Colossus is still early then all of those are we still really don't know exactly when construction started because of state secrets and whatnot.
The first (turing complete) computer actually build was the Z3.
Not many people know about it, because central Berlin in 1943 was not a healthy place for a computer.
Yeah, the Manchester Baby was the first stored-program computer. As others have noticed, you can go down the rabbit hole a long way, depending on what you define as a computer. Fascinating stuff.
I love how often seemingly simple questions just get fuzzier the closer you look at them.
It reminds me of the surprisingly deep rabbit hole regarding the first video game. People often say it's Tennis for Two, but there's not really a clear single answer!
Love me a good ol' Ahoy vid
It was 1941, and not seen as valuable by the Germans.
The British built Collosus in 1943 and used it for code breaking.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Depends entirely on the definition of computer.
There are so many "inventors of the first computers" it is ridiculous. Almost like creating a complex machine like a computer takes a whole many inventions and people who worked on it over a time span of multiple generations.
The movie was excellent
Alan Turing, the inventor of the first computer*, was castrated by the British Governmwnt for being gay.
FTFY
*Not exactly, but not to diminish his immense contributions to computer science
Thank you. That part got my pedantic ass in a tizzy. Glad someone else mentioned it.
I love watching Usagi Electric for old computer repair and restoration; including the restoration of the computer inspired by Turing's computer, the Bendix G15. Wikipedia article.
When you use the computer, first think you do is put your hands on the keyboard, specifically, you touch the D. This extracts all the heterosexuality from your body. If you're lucky, this effect is only temporary.
Konrad Zuse invented the first proper computer.
Alan Turing later invented computing.
This distinction is why computer science exists.
load more comments
(1 replies)
I named* my first self-built computer after him! Does this make that machine gay? They put chemicals in the bytes that turn the friggin' hardware gay!
*call me a weirdo but I do often name stuff like household appliances and my trees.
The only one who can decide your computer is gay is the computer itself.
Technically true, but as an admin with root priviledges, I can access system private keys and directly manage it's identity, such that it's choice is usually what I told it to want.
Tangent, boy I cannot wait for neurolink to let Grok in my brain. I'm sure it will lead to lots of new ways of thinking for me. 🙃😶😶🙄
load more comments
(1 replies)
ironically they also put chemicals in alan that were supposed to turn him not gay
load more comments
(3 replies)
A language isn't Turing complete if it isn't gay
Computing: invented by an incredible clever gay guy to fight nazis.
Honour his legacy.
A German guy called Konrad Zuse also invented computers around the same time. I honestly never wondered about his relation to the Nazis. I've just looked it up and he never was a party member, yet he worked for the military. Yikes.
load more comments
(1 replies)
view more: next ›