Difference engine: Difference between revisions

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{{First pic|Difference engine.jpg|The difference engine. ([[TV]]: ''[[Spyfall (TV story)|Spyfall]]'')}}
The '''difference engine''' was an early [[computer]] designed by [[Charles Babbage]] in the early [[19th century]]. It was a complex [[clockwork]] device made of [[bras]] and [[steel]] cogs which which could perform complex calculations ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') such as solving [[quadratic equation]]s ([[TV]]: ''[[Spyfall (TV story)|Spyfall]]'') by computing differences between numbers. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'')
The '''difference engine''' was an early [[computer]] designed by [[Charles Babbage]] in the early [[19th century]]. It was a complex [[clockwork]] device made of [[bras]] and [[steel]] cogs which which could perform complex calculations ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'') such as solving [[quadratic equation]]s ([[TV]]: ''[[Spyfall (TV story)|Spyfall]]'') by computing differences between numbers. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]'')



Revision as of 17:34, 6 January 2020

Difference engine
The difference engine. (TV: Spyfall)

The difference engine was an early computer designed by Charles Babbage in the early 19th century. It was a complex clockwork device made of bras and steel cogs which which could perform complex calculations (PROSE: The Book of the War) such as solving quadratic equations (TV: Spyfall) by computing differences between numbers. (PROSE: The Book of the War)

In 1822, Babbage brought the designs for the machine to the Star Chamber in a request for funding. He built a partial version of the machine to demonstrate during evening soirees at his home in London. (PROSE: The Book of the War) The Thirteenth Doctor and Ada Gordon examined the machine in Babbage's house in 1834. (TV: Spyfall)

However, before the machine could be fully completed, Babbage designed a more advanced version, the analytical engine, which the Star Chamber funded and built. (PROSE: The Book of the War)

In the 1880s, Joseph Montague's Difference Golems were named after the difference engine. (AUDIO: Children of Steel)