Thread: Computer u have thought of

Charles Babbage designed the first automatic computing engines, but none of his creations was ever fully built.



In 2002, London's Science Museum completed the first fully-functional Difference Engine. A duplicate machine was constructed for Nathan Myhrvold, tech millionaire and former chief technology officer at Microsoft. That second machine is on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.

The photos in this gallery were taken by Jitze Couperus in January, 2010 during a visit to the museum. Mr. Couperus has graciously allowed us to republish his photos of Babbage's Difference Engine and Royal McBee LGP-30 and Control Data Corporation (CDC) 6600.


According to the Computer History Museum, Difference Engine No. 2 has 8,000 parts, weighs five tons, and measures 11 feet long.


Difference Engine No. 2 is operated by cranking a handle.


Thanks.

Difference Engine No. 2 had seven vertical counting mechanisms. Each with a column of 31 numbered gears.


Babbage designed the machine to produce printed mathematical tables. Difference Engine No. 2 has an output printer that prints each 31 digit results in ink. The machines also imprints the results in a soft material (such as plaster). The plaster cast would then be used to make a printing plate.