Or – the Difference Engine revisited!

Mr. Babbage died in ignominy, and his uncompleted machine was scrapped, all because his contemporaries could not comprehend his vision.

Fortunately, modern scientists and artisans have constructed his machine using his 150-year-old plans and materials of the Victorian period.  The Difference Engine not only performs accurately and magnificently, it is a stunning work of art that operates without a power supply.  Although it weighs in at a stately and elegant five tons, it is hand-cranked without undue difficulty.  Had it been completed when designed it would have been the world’s first computer.

“The Difference Engine fills half a gallery and stands taller than most men. It’s 5 tons of cast iron, steel and bronze woven together from 8,000 distinct parts. Though it looks like it could be a sculpture, the machine is essentially a giant calculator. Tim Robinson, a docent at the museum, says it’s “the first automatic calculating machine.”

Read all about it on NPR