The+Difference+Machine

 The Difference Engine

__**Inventor**__ Charles Babbage (December 26, 1791 - October 18, 1871 The Difference Machine was first conceived in 1822 by Charles Babbage. It was designed to aid other mathmaticians and scientists in their work on complicated math functions, such as trigonometric, logarithmic, and polynomial equations. Before the invention of this machine, mathmaticans had to perform such long, tedious equations by hand, with nothing but small, often unusable calculators to aid them. Babbage's Difference Machine made such work quicker and easier for everyone. Babbage proposeed his idea to the British government, and received funding for its construction for a short period of time. Unfortunately, Babbage never finished his first Difference Engine. Instead, he began working on a second invention of his, the //analytical machine//. The Difference Engine, as compared to a man
 * __History[[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/CharlesBabbage.jpg/250px-CharlesBabbage.jpg width="129" height="152"]]__**

 __**Now**__ Between 1989 and1991, the London Science Museum created a working Difference Engine. It was based soley on Charles Babbage's ideas and design plans. The final product consisted of over 4,000 parts, was 6 1/2 feet tall, and weighed about 3 tons! A printer Babbage had also designed was completed in early 2000. This printer was designed to make copies of the equations and results that the Difference Machine calculated.