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Plan 28 is working towards building Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine.
About the project
For an introduction to Plan 28, read The 100-year Leap or the BBC News article Plan to build 'steam-powered PC'.
Latest information
Project is now underway
The work on Stage 1, digitization of the Babbage archive, started on Monday, September 12 and early in October Doron and I will have access to the digitized versions of Babbage's plans and notebooks for study. This great first step on Plan 28 is, finally, underway. We are very, very grateful to The Science Museum and all we have worked with there for their support and for having undertaken this vital work that will benefit not only Plan 28 but all those who wish to study Charles Babbage's work wherever they are.
Doron Swade onboard
Up until a couple of weeks ago Plan 28 was a one man show. Although Plan 28 has received enormous press coverage and many people have pledged money, services, material and time, the project was still just me.
I'm happy to say that that's no longer the case.
Doron Swade, the pre-eminent Babbage expert, who, as curator of computing at the Science Museum, masterminded the project to build Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2 has joined me on the project. Doron and I now share responsibility for finishing Babbage's work.
Much more has been happening behind the scenes that we cannot yet discuss, and the project's success is by no means guaranteed, but Plan 28 has received a major boost in the form of Doron Swade.
Plan 28 FAQ
Why hasn't someone done this before?
Because it takes time. It wasn't until the 1970s that Babbage's contributions were fully understood (see Bruce Collier's thesis), and until the 1980s that his plans had been deciphered by the likes of Allan Bromley. Only then could the Difference Engine No. 2 be constructed. It was finished in 1991. In many ways, The Difference Engine No. 2 was an 'easy' project because Babbage had left complete plans for it. The Analytical Engine is a different matter.
Babbage left multiple plans for the Analytical Engine and was constantly refining its design up until his death. To build the Analytical Engine first requires a research project to figure out which plan to build from.
That's why the project has steps involving scanning all of Babbage's papers and a research project on them.
Media coverage and Social connections
