Christel Hamann’s difference engine was a type of mechanical calculator made in the 1900s. It was automatic and could help people calculate and arrange polynomial functions used in science, ...

The Babbage Engine Exhibit opens May 10 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. The central artifact of the exhibit, a faithful construction of Englishman Charles Babbage's Difference ...

Calculating machines were sometimes used to compute and print the mathematical tables widely used by nineteenth century engineers, mathematicians and scientists. A small number of digital computing ...

Innovation stems from the minds of individuals who recognize a need and strive to develop a new way to fill it. One such innovation was the difference engine, an automatic mechanical calculator ...

As you might expect from its name, the "Difference Engine" is a strangely difficult object to describe. You might start by imagining the side of a large crib with uprights ringed by small metal wheels ...