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The Difference Engine
Charles Babbage
1812
Submitted by: Geoff Howard
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The Difference Engine

In 1812 Charles Babbage designed and built a machine that used an array of gears to make calculations called the Difference Engine. Its development owed much to previous work by John Napier (inventor of the logarithm), Blaise Pascal in 1642, Sir Samuel Moorland in 1666, Gottffried Wilhelm Leibnitz in 1672, and Viscount Mahon in 1775, each of whom developed mechanical multipliers and counters using gears. The principle of using gears to calculate can be understood by looking at simple mechanical distance recorders such as those which can be fitted to a push bike wheel. In the Difference Engine many gears were arranged such that various mathematical operations could be performed simultaneously and is regarded as the first mechanical computer.

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