Did Babbage’s Analytical Engine truly work from what he envisioned it to be?
In: 2
It was never actually built, so it’s not entirely clear. [At least one emulator exists](https://www.fourmilab.ch/babbage/aem/), but that’s not the same thing as building the original mechanical device. The site has some pages talking about the challenges of building an emulator for a machine that never had any hardware.
The emulator does seem to work. But again, the emulator isn’t necessarily subject to the constraints of a physical mechanical device. So while a perfect analytcal engine does indeed work, we don’t really know how much physical imperfection the designs can tolerate and still function.
Well, he envisioned it to be reprogramable. The one he built didn’t. He designed a programmable one, but it was built long after his death. It did print out tables like he wanted it to.