Science fiction dazzles us with mind‑blowing inventions, and behind every warp drive, time‑machine or android lies a brilliant mind. In this roundup we celebrate the ten greatest engineers whose daring creations have become the stuff of legend, proving that imagination and ingenuity can rewrite the rules of reality.

Ten Greatest Engineers Overview

10 MacGyver

Angus “Mac” MacGyver starred as the resourceful hero of the 1980s action series, working for the Phoenix Foundation—a covert agency devoted to fixing the world’s biggest messes. Both the original run and the 2016 reboot showcase a pacifist who solves problems with science, wielding a genius‑level intellect, fluency in several languages, and a toolbox of engineering tricks that would make a NASA engineer blush.

His most jaw‑dropping feats include halting a missile launcher with nothing more than a paper clip and fashioning a makeshift “Rocket Thruster” by striking a flare gun with a rock, then using the thrust to launch himself and a rescued stranger off a mountain—followed by a perfectly timed parachute drop. MacGyver’s legend lives on, and his name is now synonymous with improvisational engineering heroics.

9 Buckaroo Bonzai

Peter Weller brought Buckaroo Bonzai to life in the 1984 cult classic, portraying a polymath who juggles neurosurgery, particle physics, race‑car driving, and rock‑star fame. His crowning engineering achievement is the Oscillation Overthruster, a device that lets objects phase through solid matter without harm.

Bonzai and his mentor, Dr. Tohichi Hikita, built the Overthruster together, only to attract the attention of the nefarious Dr. Lizardo, who seeks to aid the inter‑dimensional Red Lectroids in a planetary takeover. With a rag‑tag crew of scientists and adventurers, Bonzai thwarts the alien plot and secures his spot among the elite engineers of sci‑fi.

8 Scotty

Montgomery Scott—affectionately known as Scotty—is arguably the most celebrated engineer in the Star Trek universe. Though he admits he can’t “cannae change the laws of physics,” his feats are nothing short of spectacular: he discovers warp‑speed transport, shuttles a pair of humpback whales onto a Klingon Bird of Prey, and outwits the Gorn’s advanced tech single‑handedly.

After a storied Starfleet career, Scotty’s shuttle crashes into a Dyson Sphere. With no other options, he elects to place himself in “storage” within a transporter buffer, remaining there for 75 years—he was 72 at the time—until the Enterprise‑D rescues him.

The iconic line “Beam me up, Scotty” has become synonymous with sci‑fi, and Scotty’s legacy endures across three actors, a posthumous SpaceX launch of James Doohan’s ashes, and countless tributes.

7 Tony Stark

Tony Stark, the flamboyant Iron Man, stands as Marvel’s most prolific engineer. Trapped in a cave, he cobbles together the first Iron Man suit from spare parts, launching a career that spans multiple armored exoskeletons, the War Machine, and autonomous Iron Man androids. He even manages to split the cosmic Phoenix Force into five fragments.

The Phoenix Force, a multiversal entity capable of shattering planets like glass, is no match for Stark’s intellect. A billionaire playboy with multiple doctorates, Stark also invents a fully functional Time GPS, granting the Avengers the ability to navigate both time and space with pinpoint accuracy.

6 Kaylee Frye

Although Firefly lasted only one season, its legacy endures, largely thanks to Kaylee Frye—the ship’s ever‑cheerful mechanic. While she never invents a new warp drive or defeats alien invasions, her innate talent for machines makes her one of the most impressive starship engineers ever seen on screen.

Kaylee’s natural aptitude compensates for a lack of formal training; she can coax a seemingly hopelessly damaged Serenity back to life, turning a “beyond repair” verdict into a triumphant revival. Her uncanny ability to fix any mechanical problem feels almost super‑human, cementing her place among the top engineers.

5 Dr. Emmett Brown

Doc Brown, the beloved mad scientist from Back to the Future, not only pioneers time travel but does so with a DeLorean outfitted with a Flux Capacitor—the essential component that makes temporal jumps possible. His inventions, while often chaotic, demonstrate a staggering level of scientific and engineering prowess.

Stranded in the late 19th century, Brown rebuilds a functional time machine using parts from the original DeLorean and a steam‑engine locomotive. He subtly upgrades contemporary technology without drawing undue attention, ultimately achieving a harmonious balance between progress and temporal safety.

Beyond his inventions, Brown’s moral compass drives him to ensure his creations benefit humanity, refusing to let his genius cause harm—a testament to his ethical engineering mindset.

4 The Doctor

The Doctor, the timeless Time Lord from Doctor Who, pilots the TARDIS—a police‑box‑shaped vessel that’s famously bigger on the inside. Armed with the sonic screwdriver—a multi‑tool capable of picking locks, detonating mines, and disassembling complex equipment—the Doctor tackles any engineering obstacle with flair.

From navigating treacherous space stations to escaping earthbound mine shafts, the Doctor’s brilliant scientific mind and versatile sonic screwdriver have solved countless seemingly impossible predicaments, solidifying his status as a supreme engineer of the multiverse.

3 Geordi La Forge

Geordi La Forge stands out among Star Trek’s legion of engineers. Starting as a junior lieutenant on the USS Enterprise, he climbs the ranks to commander and chief engineer, mastering everything from warp core diagnostics to positronic circuitry.

Geordi’s unmatched ability to understand and manipulate any technology—especially his expertise with positronics—earns him admiration across the Federation. He mentors Chief Miles O’Brien, later curates the Fleet Museum, and spends two decades painstakingly restoring the Enterprise‑D, cementing his reputation as Starfleet’s premier engineer.

2 Samantha Carter

Samantha Carter, a brilliant astrophysicist, engineer, pilot, and Air Force colonel, plays a pivotal role in establishing the Stargate program. With a Ph.D. in astrophysics and deep knowledge of quantum mechanics, she serves as second‑in‑command of SG‑1 for eight years before briefly assuming command.

While Starfleet engineers rely on warp drives, Carter’s expertise lies in operating the Stargate—a device that creates stable wormholes, enabling instantaneous travel across light‑years. Her engineering brilliance, combined with tactical leadership, guides her team through countless interstellar crises.

1 Bulma

Bulma, the ingenious scientist from Dragon Ball, may be married to the fiery Saiyan prince Vegeta, but her technical feats eclipse even his legendary battles. She designs a Dragon Ball detector from scratch, a portable shrinking device, a personal time machine, and a generator that powers Vegeta’s hyper‑training, facilitating his ascent to Super‑Saiyan status.

Constantly inventing cutting‑edge gadgets, Bulma also creates a universal translator for alien languages and a device that lets her communicate with animals. Her relentless innovation across countless fields earns her the title of the greatest engineer in science‑fiction lore.

When we think of the Nazis, we picture Hitler, Himmler, Goering, Goebbels, and Speer, the political architects of the Third Reich who drove Germany’s devastation across Europe and into the Soviet Union. Yet the machinery that powered that carnage was forged by a cadre of engineers and scientists. In this roundup of the 10 engineers scientists who built the Nazi war machine, we’ll explore the minds behind the metal and the code.

10 engineers scientists: The Architects of Destruction

10 Ferdinand Porsche

Ferdinand Porsche’s surname rings a bell for anyone who loves high‑performance automobiles – he founded the company that later produced the iconic Porsche sports cars – but he also threw his considerable talents behind the Nazi war effort.

He sketched the Volkswagen Beetle, Hitler’s so‑called “people’s car,” and almost secured the contract for the fearsome Tiger tank. The Nazis deemed his tank’s drive system overly intricate, repurposing his work for the massive tank‑destroyer nicknamed the Elephant.

Porsche was fundamentally an inventor obsessed with vehicle engineering. After designing equipment for the Austrians in World War I, he and his son launched their own engineering firm in 1931.

His reputation was such that Stalin personally tried to lure him in 1932 to head the Soviet automobile industry, a proposal Porsche declined because he didn’t speak Russian.

When Hitler announced the quest for a “people’s car” in 1934, Porsche’s Beetle design won the competition. After a 1935 meeting, Hitler lavished praise on him and even offered to name the production plant after Porsche – an offer the engineer politely refused.

Later he devised the Kubelwagen, a military Jeep‑like vehicle derived from the Beetle, which the German army embraced; roughly 55,000 units rolled off the line during the conflict.

Following the war, Porsche spent 22 months incarcerated in France for his Nazi affiliations. By 1950, he and his son had unveiled the first Porsche sports car, marking a new chapter in automotive history.

9 Kurt Tank

Kurt Tank, a distinguished aircraft designer and test pilot, first saw combat as a soldier in World I before studying electrical engineering and earning his pilot’s wings.

After stints with several aircraft firms, he landed at Focke‑Wulf in 1931, where he transformed the company into a premier aircraft manufacturer.

Tank’s portfolio includes the Fw 190 fighter, which out‑performed the famed British Spitfire and earned a reputation as the best German propeller‑driven fighter of the war, and the Fw 200 transport, a long‑range aircraft that terrorized Allied shipping.

Although only a few hundred Fw 200s were built, each could cover more than 3,200 km (2,000 mi). Their raids sank up to 90,000 metric tons of shipping per month, prompting Winston Churchill to dub the type the “scourge of the Atlantic.”

After the conflict, Tank emigrated to Argentina, dabbling briefly in jet design before moving to India, where he contributed to the Indian Air Force’s jet fighter programs. Two decades later, he returned to Germany as a consultant for a major aircraft conglomerate.

8 Ernst Heinkel

Ernst Heinkel’s inaugural aircraft crashed and burned, but that setback didn’t dampen his resolve. He had already designed planes during World I and later founded Heinkel Flugzeugwerke.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Heinkel’s firm enjoyed a prosperous run, producing record‑breaking racers and, notably, the He 187 – the world’s first jet aircraft, which first took to the skies in 1939, a week before the outbreak of war.

His most recognizable creation, the He 111 twin‑engine bomber, became a staple of the Blitzkrieg. Although its vulnerabilities surfaced later, the aircraft saw extensive early‑war service.

By the early 1940s, Heinkel grew increasingly vocal against the Nazi regime, a stance that led to the state confiscating his factories in 1942. Nonetheless, he remained a Nazi Party member and employed forced labor in his plants.

After the war, Allied authorities detained him and put him on trial. He was ultimately acquitted, largely because of his documented resistance to Hitler. In 1950, Heinkel pivoted to civilian production, manufacturing scooters, bicycles, and small automobiles.

7 Willy Messerschmitt

During World I, Willy Messerschmitt trained at a German flying school and even set a world record for the longest glider flight.

In the 1920s he launched his own firm producing low‑cost aircraft, but a series of crashes forced him into bankruptcy by 1931.

The Nazi rise to power in 1933 rescued Messerschmitt from financial ruin. Although a senior Nazi official’s son perished in one of his planes, Messerschmitt cultivated other influential party contacts.

When the regime announced a massive re‑armament program, Messerschmitt, together with Robert Lusser, unveiled the Bf 109 prototype. The Luftwaffe’s chief of air‑force development personally test‑flew the aircraft and declared it fit for front‑line service.

The Bf 109 became an icon, fighting on every theater for Germany and famously dueling with the British Spitfire during the Battle of Britain. Messerschmitt later added the Bf 110 night‑fighter and, most impressively, the Me 262 – the world’s first operational jet fighter.

Post‑war, the United States held Messerschmitt for two years. Upon release, he pivoted to prefabricated housing and sewing machines because Allied occupation forces barred aircraft production. By 1952, however, he was back in the aerospace sector, producing missiles and combat aircraft for West Germany.

6 Robert Lusser

Robert Lusser wore many hats: celebrated aircraft engineer, award‑winning pilot, and later, a designer of one of the era’s most infamous weapons.

After periods at several manufacturers, Lusser joined Messerschmitt, where he helped shape the Bf 109 and played a major role in the Bf 110’s development. A brief return to Heinkel in 1938 ended abruptly after a dispute over a jet fighter design.

Subsequently, Lusser moved to Fieseler, where he conceived the V‑1 flying bomb – the first of the Nazi “revenge weapons.” Thousands of these pulse‑jet cruise missiles were launched against Britain, delivering a terrifying new form of warfare.

Following the war, Lusser entered the United States under Operation Paperclip, although he did not arrive until 1948, later joining Werner von Braun’s team in the American space program. He famously mis‑predicted that a lunar mission was impossible, believing spacecraft reliability was insufficient.

In 1959, Lusser returned to Germany, re‑joining Messerschmitt’s organization and continuing his work in aeronautical engineering.

5 Hans von Ohain

When Ernst Heinkel sought academic expertise for a groundbreaking jet‑powered aircraft, university supervisor recommendations pointed to a bright young mind: Hans von Ohain.

In 1936, Ohain officially joined Heinkel Flugzeugwerke, dedicating himself to the development of the world’s inaugural jet engine.

By 1939, the He 178 – the first jet‑propelled airplane – completed a near‑perfect test flight, a milestone that proved the viability of jet propulsion. Ohain’s engine work also paved the way for the Me 262, the first jet fighter to see combat, even though he was not directly involved in its airframe design.

After World II, Ohain emigrated to the United States, eventually becoming chief scientist at a U.S. Air Force research laboratory in 1963. His prolific publishing record earned him induction into both the International Aerospace Hall of Fame and the Sciences Hall of Fame.

4 Walter Thiel

In 1936, Walter Thiel became the third scientist recruited by Walter Dornberger, the head of Germany’s rocket research division. With a background in chemical engineering, Thiel quickly rose to become second‑in‑command of the program.

Thiel’s contributions were crucial to the V‑2 rocket’s ascent. He focused on engine design, engineering a lighter, more compact powerplant, and he selected the fuel mixture that made the V‑2 feasible for mass production.

By 1943, Thiel grew convinced that inherent design flaws made large‑scale V‑2 production impossible, prompting his resignation. Tragically, only days later, a British bombing raid on Peenemünde claimed the lives of Thiel and his family.

3 Herbert A. Wagner

During the 1920s, aerospace engineer Herbert A. Wagner probed the dynamics of various aircraft components, including the floats of seaplanes. By the 1930s, his work extended to high‑altitude military aircraft and nascent jet engine concepts.

In the 1940s, Wagner contributed to guided‑missile technology, most notably the Hs 293 – a rocket‑powered glide bomb that earned the distinction of being the first guided bomb ever deployed in combat.

The Hs 293 proved devastating, sinking approximately 400,000 tons of Allied shipping. However, the proliferation of multiple Hs 293 variants hampered further refinement of the weapon.

After the war, Wagner was among the first German scientists transferred to the United States, where he helped develop a radar‑guided aircraft system used by the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He also refined American guided‑bomb designs and later contributed guidance systems for U.S. Army anti‑tank missiles.

2 Konrad Zuse

In 1935, Konrad Zuse worked as an engineer for the Henschel aircraft factory, but his true passion occupied weekend evenings in his parents’ living room, where he assembled the Z1 – the world’s first programmable computer.

Zuse’s motivation was practical: he wanted a machine capable of crunching engineering equations for his own designs. Completed in 1938, the Z1 was a groundbreaking achievement, though its simplicity limited complex calculations.

When World II erupted, Zuse narrowly avoided conscription by pitching his computer to the German army as a potential aid. Employed by the Third Reich’s Aerodynamics Research Institute, he continued developing computers, culminating in the Z4.

Zuse proposed advancing to vacuum‑tube‑based computers, but the German military abruptly canceled the project, convinced that victory was imminent and a computer unnecessary.

German aircraft manufacturers coveted Zuse’s machines for aerodynamic calculations. Their importance was such that Werner von Braun personally intervened to relocate Zuse and his computers to a safer site.

After the war, Zuse smuggled the Z4 into Switzerland, founding a computer manufacturing enterprise in 1950. Two decades later, Siemens acquired his company, and Zuse retired from active engineering.

1 Fritz Todt

Following service in the German army during World I, Fritz Todt pursued engineering studies and eventually secured a position at a modest construction firm. He joined the Nazi Party in 1922, a full decade before the party seized power, and later became a member of the SS.

In 1930, Todt authored a paper on employment that caught Adolf Hitler’s attention. When the Nazis assumed control, Todt was appointed head of the new Autobahn project, later overseeing the entire German economy as Reich Minister of Munitions and leader of the Head Office of Technology.

He also founded Organization Todt, a quasi‑governmental engineering body responsible for constructing the Atlantic Wall and massive U‑boat shelters along the French coastline. The organization is infamous for its reliance on millions of forced laborers.

Although Todt enjoyed Hitler’s favor, he frequently clashed with other high‑ranking Nazis such as Hermann Göring and Martin Bormann. In 1942, he perished in an aircraft explosion; suspicions of sabotage or assassination lingered, but no definitive proof emerged.

Sam writes, writes, and writes some more!

Engineering is the practice of applying scientific and mathematical principles to real-life situations. While scientists usually get all the credit for all of humanity’s scientific achievements, it’s actually engineers who build the things that make all that possible – from intricate lab equipment to large-scale city projects. Some of the best engineers ever also happened to be prodigious scientists, even if their names have now been largely lost to history.

10. Martha Coston

Night flares were an important method of communication in early modern warfare, especially before the advent of radio and other electronic forms of communication. Developed and patented by Martha Coston in 1859, they were deployed to great effect during the American Civil War. The flare and code system was eventually adopted by military forces around the world, paving the way for the elaborate flare systems still in use today. 

Surprisingly, Coston never intended on becoming an engineer or inventor, as it was her deceased husband – Benjamin Franklin Coston – who originally came up with the blueprint. His version didn’t work, however, and Martha largely came up with a working model on her own. According to some historians, her flares were crucial during the civil war, as the Union Army was the first major client to purchase them in bulk.

9. Filippo Brunelleschi

Filippo Brunelleschi was one of the pioneers of architecture during the earliest phases of the Italian Renaissance, and is even sometimes referred to as the first modern engineer. Brunelleschi had a huge role to play in the modern scientific approach to infrastructure design, breaking away from the more decorative kind of architecture common across Europe before. 

Filippo Brunelleschi’s most renowned masterpiece was the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, built by machines he invented specifically for that purpose. His geometric, proportion-based approach to architecture laid the foundation for many Italian engineers and inventors after him. Apart from engineering, Brunelleschi was also inducted into the Arte della Seta – or the Silk Guild of Florence – as a master, as he was also an accomplished goldsmith and sculptor.

8. Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-born American actress still remembered for her roles in classics like Algiers, Samson and Delilah, and Come Live with Me, among countless others. She’s often called one of the most beautiful actresses ever, inspiring iconic cartoon characters like Snow White and Catwoman. What’s much less known, though, is her contribution to modern science, as Lamarr was also a gifted engineer and inventor of the technology used in many communications systems today.

During the Second World War, Lamarr came up with a system called frequency hopping, which could be used to block enemy jammers from interfering with radio-controlled torpedoes. While it wasn’t used during the war, it was widely implemented by the US Navy in the 1950s, even if she was never credited for it back then. The technology has since been used to develop innovations like Bluetooth and GPS, as well as early WiFi systems. For her contributions, Hedy Lamarr was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014. 

7. Jacques de Vaucanson

The list of things invented and designed by Jacques de Vaucanson is quite long. Born in 1709, he was a pioneer in automatons, and many machines that made the Industrial age possible would’ve never been possible without his contributions. In 1737, Vaucanson built a life-size flute player that could play a total of twelve songs on a traverse flute, which was unheard-of for that time. In 1738, he designed something called The Digesting Duck – a rather impressive replica of a duck with hundreds of parts that could flap its wings, eat and drink, and even defecate, which is still considered to be a masterpiece of the time. 

His most important invention, however, was the all-metal slide rest lathe in 1750. While lathes – a kind of machine tool based on an axis used to complete various industrial tasks – had existed since ancient times, he massively improved on the design for his age, providing a base machine to build other machines. Nearly every automatic machine used during the Industrial age was based on Vaucanson’s improvements, including the Jacquard loom. 

6. Imhotep

Yes, the guy from The Mummy took his name from a real guy. Let’s get that out of the way first.

The real Imhotep lived and died so long ago that it’s difficult to ascertain precise details about his life, though we do know a few things. Archeological evidence from later Egyptian sources place his achievements somewhere around 2600 BC during the reign of Djoser of the Third Dynasty, or the first Old Kingdom dynasty. He was an immensely important figure across Egypt, and may even have been the first individual to be deified and worshiped as a god… ever.

Mythology aside, Imhotep was also the first architect – or at least the first architect to show up in historical records. We can see his imprint in some of the most impressive ancient Egyptian structures found in and around Cairo, especially the step pyramid complex dedicated to Djoser at Saqqara, called the ‘The Refreshment of the Gods’. It was an unprecedented creation undertaken entirely under his supervision, using a stone-dressed style of building and columns for the first time in history. Not just that, ancient Egyptian structures started to get more complex and elaborate around exactly this time, suggesting that Imhotep may have had a larger role to play in ancient Egyptian architecture than we may ever know. 

Imhotep was also a gifted physician and, well, a God, so it’s difficult to say exactly how influential his works really were, as archeological evidence tends to overplay his achievements. Still, Imhotep’s tomb has never been found, and it may hold some clues to the precise scope of his engineering and scientific achievements.

5. Archimedes

Born in 287 BC in Syracuse, Sicily, Archimedes was easily one of the greatest minds of classical antiquity. While he’s mostly remembered for his contributions to mathematics – especially early geometry – he was also one of the greatest engineers of his time, even if he was always more interested in theorems and proofs rather than actually building anything. 

Many of Archimedes’s greatest inventions happened under the reign of King Hieron II of Syracuse. He built a lever and pulley system that could easily launch large, newly-constructed ships into the water with a simple mechanism. Archimedes is also credited with building the first ever working odometer – an idea that was eventually adopted and improved upon by other inventors of the time. His creations also contributed to the war effort, as he built a giant Iron Claw to thwart invading ships during the Punic wars between Ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic, among other effective war machines. 

4. Nikolaus August Otto

Nikolaus August Otto was born in 1832 in Holzhausen, Germany, and remains one of the most important inventors of the Industrial Age, even if most people today have likely never heard of him. While many engineers and businessmen aided in the invention of the modern automobile in their own way, Otto could be singularly credited with developing the technology that made it all possible – the four-stroke internal combustion engine. 

Built in 1876, Otto’s engine improved upon Étienne Lenoir’s two-stroke system in many ways, providing the first working replacement for the widely-used steam engine at the time. In his honor, the four-stroke internal combustion cycle – comprising the four stages of intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust – is still called the Otto Cycle. His invention was used in the design of the first motorcycle by Gottlieb Daimler in August, 1885, as well as nearly every type of autmobile engine built since that time. 

3. Fazlur Rahman Khan

Fazlur Rahman Khan is also sometimes referred to as the ‘father of tubular designs’ for high-rise buildings, as well as a pioneer of computer-aided designs – or CAD – in modern architecture. Easily one of the greatest engineers of the 20th century, Khan’s innovations are visible in modern skyscrapers around the world, even the ones he wasn’t directly involved with, such as the first World Trade Center in New York. 

Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1929, Khan joined the renowned Chicago-based architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in 1955. His tubular designs ushered in a kind of a revolution in skyscraper design during the second half of the century, especially the ‘bundled tube’ structural system, which minimized the amount of material required for construction. Fazlur Rahman Khan’s most well-known works include Sears Tower (now Willis Tower) and John Hancock Center in Chicago, and the Haj Terminal at the King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, among many others. 

2. Ismail al-Jazari

Ismait al-Jazari was a prolific polymath from the Islamic Golden Age – a nearly-five-centuries-long period of scientific, cultural and social renaissance across the Islamic world, beginning with the establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate in the 8th century. Born in 1136, al-Jazari built upon the works of other notable scientists and inventors from the region, and his inventions have since been recognized as a major influence on European inventors during the European Renaissance, like Leonardo da Vinci.

While we don’t know much about his early years – as many records from that time have since been lost – we know that over the course of his life, al-Jazari invented over 50 types of unique devices, including an elephant water clock and a mechanism for raising water for irrigation and other purposes, along with multiple other types of automatons. His inventions are illustrated in his magnum opus, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, which remains an important treatise in early engineering to this day.   

1. Charles Babbage

It’s unclear exactly when or where Charles Babbage was born, though according to some sources, it was probably in London some time in 1791. Unlike many other inventors on this list, Babbage never went to school and mostly taught himself during his early years. He was exceptionally-good at algebra and calculus, though, earning him a place at the prestigious Trinity College at Cambridge by 1811.

Over the course of his life, Charles Babbage would prove himself to be an important figure in early computing. Out of his countless contributions to the fields of mathematics and engineering, perhaps the most important was the Difference Engine, and later the Analytical Engine, which are now recognized as the earliest types of mechanical computers. His designs were so far ahead of his time that they were impossible to build during his lifetime, as they far exceeded the technology available to him. Later attempts to recreate the Difference Engine would prove successful, however, even if many of his other prototype machines remain incomplete to this day. While he’s now called the ‘father of computers’ due to his contributions to early computation, much of Babbage’s work was never supported by his peers or the British government at the time.