Leonardo Torres y Quevedo (December 28, 1852 - December 18, 1936) was a Spanish engineer, mathematician, and inventor.
Torres y Quevedo was born in Santa Cruz de Iguña , Spain. He studied in Bilbao, in Paris, and graduated from the Madrid School of Engineering.
After inheriting a fortune, he retired from a railway job and spent his time on mathematical studies and developing various mechanical devices.
He wrote books on mathematics, designed the cable car at Niagara Falls, pioneered remote control of machines via radio, designed and built a series of airships, and invented mechanical analogue computers including one which could play the chess endgame of King & Rook against King.
In 1910 he became the President of Royal Academy of Exact Sciences in Madrid. His "Ensayos sobre automática" describes a proposed electromechanical implementation of Babbage's Analytical Engine.
Torres had eight children and died in Madrid on December 18, 1936.
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