Charles Babbage

Born and died: 1791 - 1871

Country: England

Scientific Field(s): Mechanical Engineer and Mathematician

Short Bio

Many of history’s biggest scientists, from Leonardo Da Vinci to Bill Gates, had their hands in more than one field. Charles Babbage, the creator of the first computer (in theory, anyway), also had many interests, like

• ghosts.
• early electromagnetic theory.
• mapmaking.
• the postal system.
• politics.

Despite the obvious answer of why we'd be talking about Babbage (his interest in ghosts, obvi), it was actually his love for astronomy that led to the design of a device he called the Analytical Engine, which he wanted to help make astronomical calculations. This device is considered the first computer because it could mechanically take input and produce output, along with handling conditional instructions and loops. At least, it's theoretically considered the first computer. Technically speaking, it wasn't completed until almost a century later. Once someone did actually complete it, though, it functioned exactly as Babbage thought it would.

Hey, a theoretical computer scientist is still a computer scientist.

Thomas J. Watson

Born and died: 1874 – 1956

Country: U.S.A.

Scientific Field(s): Electrical Engineering

Short Bio

Thomas J. Watson, namesake for the Jeopardy!-winning AI, was the first CEO of IBM. Under his leadership, IBM became such a dominant corporation that they were accused of monopolizing the computer market. (Awk.)

It wasn't all fun and classic American board games for Watson. In 1940, overwhelmed with guilt about how IBM machines helped Nazi Germany with the census data they'd use to locate Jewish people, Watson returned the Order of the German Eagle they presented to him three years before. 

TL; DR: Without him, you probably wouldn't have a computer in your house.

Jack Kilby

Born and died: 1923 – 2005

Country: USA

Scientific Field(s): Electrical Engineering

Short Bio:

Jack Kilby: the man you haven't heard about, but really should have. In fact, not many people really knew about him until 2000, when he won the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing the integrated circuit back in 1958.

Kind-of fundamental to modern computing, if you ask us.

The integrated circuit combined all the components of a circuit right into the same, manufactured microchip. Combining all those features meant that transistors, capacitors, diodes and other electronic circuitry no longer needed to be manually placed and soldered together. The old process was expensive and time consuming. Plus, those solders joints could come apart, which isn't too fun last we checked..

Kirby also invented the first hand-held calculator while working at Texas Instruments to show off the application of micro-electronic technology. So you can thank him whenever you pull out your $90 calculator to doodle on the graphing pane.

Stephen Wozniak

Born and died: 1950 – present

Country: USA

Scientific Field(s): Electronics Engineering

Short Bio

If you've ever used a personal computer (also known as a PC), you have Steve Wozniak to thank. He designed and developed the Apple I, the first PC, which launched the Apple Computer Corporation. (Ironic, no?)

Before he founded Apple, Wozniak was expelled from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1969 for hacking into the university’s computer system. 20 years later in 1989, he received an honorary doctorate of engineering from his almost-ex-alma mater. He has since collected twelve other honorary doctorates of engineering from different universities. Like Ash Ketchum, he's going to catch 'em all (probably).

After being expelled from the University of Colorado, Wozniak attended a couple other universities but didn’t actually complete his engineering degree there until 1986 because actual engineering work kept getting in the way. Between 1973 and 1977 Wozniak worked at Hewlett-Packard (HP), where he met Steve Jobs, a high school student working at Atari. While working at HP full-time, Wozniak also helped Jobs with his circuit board assignments for Atari.

(We aren't sure how he managed that one, but we're assuming a Time-Turner was involved.)

In 1976, the two sold everything they had to co-found Apple Computer. Although Steve Jobs made Apple (the company) a household name through his marketing genius, Wozniak was the one who gave the computers their impressive capabilities.

Today, you'll find Wozniak speaking at tech forums and supporting programs that encourage technology education. He also has an autobiography called, iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon. If you're into that kind of thing.

(Source)