#  Exhibit "The Punched Card from the Industrial Revolution to the Information Age" (Houghton Library) 

 



####  calendar\_today Date and Time 

 **May 5 - August 28, 2025** 

 All day 

####  pin\_drop Location 

 **History of Ideas Case, Houghton Library, Harvard Yard**  



 

 



 

  
2025 marks the 300th anniversary of a technology associated with the computer age, but with roots in the Industrial Revolution. In 1725, French silk weaver Basile Bouchon invented the use of a paper tape with punched holes to automate the work of a loom. By the 19th century, punchcard-controlled looms produced sophisticated textiles, including fabric "pages" woven from silk to simulate the leaves of a medieval manuscript. Computing pioneer Charles Babbage first envisioned adapting punched cards to computing; in the early computer age, they were the primary means for data entry and processing. In *Punched Card Methods in Scientific Computation*, Wallace Eckert shared his work using punched cards to perform complex calculations such as determining the orbits of planets.

[More information](https://library.harvard.edu/exhibits/punched-card-industrial-revolution-information-age)



 

 



 

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