The analytical engine, an important step in the history of computers, was the design of a mechanical general-purpose computer by the British mathematician Charles Babbage. In its logical design the machine was essentially modern, anticipating the first completed general-purpose computers by about 100 years. It was first described in 1837. Babbage continued to refine the design until his death in 1871. Because of the complexity of the machine, the lack of project management science, the expense of its construction, and the difficulty of assessing its value by Parliament relative to other projects being lobbied for, the engine was never built. Some have said that the technological limitations of the time were a further obstacle to the construction of the machine, but this has been refuted by the partial construction of one of Babbage's machines by his son Henry, and now by the construction of one of his machines by the British Science Museum Indications are today that the machine could have been built successfully with the technology of the era if funding and political support had been stronger

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