Johann Helfrich von Müller

Johann Helfrich von Müller (1746 to 1830) was an engineer in the Hessian army, born in Kleve, who conceived the difference engine in 1786, an idea that his source says later evolved into modern computers; the first written reference to the basic principles of a difference machine dates to 1784. In 1784 he was also responsible for an improved adding machine built on the principles of Leibniz's stepped reckoner. His source calls him demonstrably the first to come up with the idea of calculating mathematical tables automatically by a machine, for which he planned a printing differential engine, but that plan was not realized. He therefore stands among the early thinkers about automatic calculation.