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Charles Babbage‘s Difference Engine. A mechanical computer.

Babbage's Difference Engine. Image by: Jacques Foucry. (Click for more)

This is a super-cool machine that was thought up and designed by Charles Babbage (see below). He never actually constructed the machine, but this version of it was created using the original plans.

“In 1822, Charles Babbage proposed the use of such a machine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society on 14 June entitled “Note on the application of machinery to the computation of astronomical and mathematical tables”.^[4] This machine used the decimal number system and was powered by cranking a handle. The British government initially financed the project, but withdrew funding when it became apparent that the machine would cost much more than originally anticipated. Babbage went on to design his much more general analytical engine but later produced an improved difference engine design (his “Difference Engine No. 2“) between 1847 and 1849. ” (Difference Engine, Wikipedia)

Difference engine. (2011, June 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:39, June 24, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Difference_engine&oldid=433521835

This is part of a new segment we are adding where we hand-pick a technology related image that has no or little copyright limitations, every week.

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Author: Jacques Foucry