As you might expect from its name, the "Difference Engine" is a strangely difficult object to describe. You might start by imagining the side of a large crib with uprights ringed by small metal wheels ...

Innovation stems from the minds of individuals who recognize a need and strive to develop a new way to fill it. One such innovation was the difference engine, an automatic mechanical calculator ...

Introduction -- Carrying tens : Pascal, Morland, and the challenge of machine calculation -- First carry ; Babbage and Clement mechanize table making -- Artisans and their philosophers : Leibniz and ...