Babbage Proposes The Difference Engine (1822 CE)

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A difference engine is an automatic mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial functions. It was designed in the 1820s, and was created by Charles Babbage. The name difference engine is derived from the method of finite differences, a way to interpolate or tabulate functions by using a small set of polynomial co-efficients.

Gallery

Babbage difference engine drawingBenjamin Herschel Babbage, printed in Harper's new monthly magazinePublic domainWikimedia Commons

Head and shoulders portrait of Charles Babbage, the mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer. He is best remembered for originating the concept of a programmable computer, the Difference Engine. He is clean-shaven with dark hair, wears a dark jacket, white shirt and dark cravat. The case opens along the shorter edge.National Science and Media Museum BradfordPublic domain Europeana

People

Charles V · 1500 CE – 1558 CE

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