London's Science Museum links tech history
Summary: The Science Museum in London contains an array of fascinating and famous tech, and ZDNet UK looks inside the museum's collection
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Babbage's Analytical Engine Mill
Babbage Analytical Engine Mill
The Babbage Analytical Engine Mill was built by Henry Babbage (1824-1918) and based on the designs of his father, computing pioneer Charles Babbage (1791-1871). The machine was intended to add, subtract, divide and multiply. Only small parts of the engine, such as this calculating component, were ever completed.
Charles Babbage had first tried to build the Babbage Difference Engine, which was designed to calculate different sums and print the results. His efforts to secure funding for the project were frustrated in his lifetime, and the first working model was only completed by the Science Museum in 1991.
A replica of the Difference Engine No 2 also exists in the Computer History Museum in California. A project to create the full Analytical Engine — which would have been far more complex than the Difference Engine had it ever been built — is currently underway. The complete device is expected to be around the size of a steam train.
Photo credit: Science Museum
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