Babbage’s Difference Engine
device · 1822 · Industrial Revolution
A mechanical calculator for tabulating polynomials.
Inventor: Charles Babbage.
What it is made of
- Gear — has part. Numbers were stored in the positions of gear wheels.
Principles and materials it uses
- Brass — is made of. The wheels of the Difference Engine are brass.
- Cast iron — is made of. The frame is cast iron.
History: what it evolved from and what it influenced
- Babbage’s Analytical Engine — evolved into. Babbage moved on to a general-purpose machine while working on the difference engine.
- Mechanical calculator — evolved from. Babbage automated the computing of tables using the mechanics of calculators.
What it is a kind of
- Computing device — is a kind of. A mechanical calculator.