The Difference Engine | Foundations of machine-computing | Techday, June 14th
On this TECHDAY in history, on June 14th 1822, Charles Babbage revealed, in a paper presentation to the Royal Astronomical Society, his plans for what he called the “Difference Engine“. This was the first form of mechanical computer, which would form the basis for the development of the Analytical Engine and, a century later, of electromechanical computers. It utilized the decimal number system, powered by cranking a handle.
The mechanical calculator would tabulate polynomial functions. It was suitable for engineering, science, navigation due to the capability to compute and tabulate functions logarithmic and trigonometric as well. The design of the machine had the same precision on all columns, even calculating polynomials.
The basic principle of the difference machine is Newton’s method of divided differences. Fun fact, the machine can also feature analytic functions as well. These are expressed as power series, fair example being the Taylor series one.
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Author: PC-GR
The World of Technology
