Gizmodo
For those who haven't yet heard, a band of number-crunching nostalgists took the concept design for Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2, and turned it into a real, fully functional machine. But what really makes the Difference Engine amazing is only noticed when you watch its thousands of moving parts in action. Upon first glance, the Difference Engine looks a bit chaotic. But upon closer inspection, it moves with the precision of a Swiss watch while maintaining the fluid motion of a wave about to break. And today, it went on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.
For those who haven't yet heard, a band of number-crunching nostalgists took the concept design for Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2, and turned it into a real, fully functional machine. But what really makes the Difference Engine amazing is only noticed when you watch its thousands of moving parts in action. Upon first glance, the Difference Engine looks a bit chaotic. But upon closer inspection, it moves with the precision of a Swiss watch while maintaining the fluid motion of a wave about to break. And today, it went on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.Difference Engine No. 2, designed in 1847, was designed to calculate and tabulate values run through polynomial functions up to the seventh order. It, along with the other Babbage Engines, is considered to be the first automatic computing machine.
For those who slept through all their math classes, think of an equation like y=x^3+4x+4, where you're given a list of integers and asked to solve for y in each instance. Babbage was tired of repeatedly doing this by hand and wanted an automated way to solve polynomial functions. He thought there was too much room for human error, so he put together the Difference Engine, which acts like a super-powered calculator.
The machine is powered by a hand crank, which gets the various gears, levers and springs moving, and uses giant mechanical rods representing number values around to push around a bunch of numbers until—presto, change-o—you have your answers printed on a piece of paper (technical, I know).
The Difference Engine No. 1 design, created in 1821, is one of the earliest concepts for a computer. It was able to handle 16-digit numbers run through polynomials up to the 6th order and print them out in tabulated form. It required 25,000 parts, would have stood eight feet tall and weighed 15 tons.
Difference Engine No.2, finished in 1849, was a sleeker, more powerful beast (similar to the difference between Iron Man's Mark 1 and Mark 2 suits). It was designed to handle numbers 31 digits long, only required 8000 parts, and in addition to printing paper results, could imprint tables into a plaster mold for future reproduction. The specs called for it to stand 11 feet long and weigh 5 tons.
The machine design even features built-in error detection, where the machine jams if it comes across a non-whole number at any point in the process. I'll avoid getting into the nitty-gritty of the forumlas and equations, because frankly, its neither as interesting or impressive as the mere fact that Babbage concocted this in the 1800s. But you can read up on the full computational breakdown here. [Computer History Museum]
Comments
I am surprised that this isn't sitting on the writing desk of W. Gibson.
Tis' a thing of beauty, it is.
I have never seen a more beautiful machine in motion
Can it play Crisis?
@zenpoet and termitehead: Exactly. Truly awe-inspiring.
@--Tito--: Yes, load times are approximatly 285 years though, and the 3D is total shit.
Also, thanks for the link. Even this non-math guy thinks the computational breakdown is almost as beautiful.
@valarmorghulis:
Yeah, by the time you've purchased all the necessary upgrades to make it run at a decent framerate you may as well just buy a new machine.
wow
It's too bad in school (at least in my time), they don't teach the history of math to appreciate it more.
That is an incredible piece of machinery.
@valarmorghulis: Darn, I heard it never overheated.
In 150 years there will be a variation on the this where someone makes vista work well. Crowds will be astounded.
No mention of Steam Punk? This is the quintessential Steam Punk device. (Um...regardless of the fact that there's no steam or punks to speak of).
Still though...it's mesmerizing to see that thing in action.
It's cool... but it's no iPhone.
I want to see it actually do some math, like 2+2 or something.
But hell yeah its mesmerizing, thats fucking awesome.
@--Tito--: No, but it can play WoW.
This actually is a solution to the age-old problem of kids bringing calculators into math class and 'cheating'. If they were forced to use mechanical calculators, no teacher in the world would deny a kid who found a way to drag something in like this.
Dammit Giz, stop posting these awesome stories, I'm trying to get some work done.
Imagine a world where these things took off instead of electronics. Steampunk and semaphore towers for the win!
Precision german watch... MMhhhh.... I wonder how more wonderfull would be if they used SWISS watch precision.
@ParJoe: Simple solution, instead of having some poor shlub cranking this thing you add a steam turbine. Then wear a mohawk and suspenders.
I'm a computer engineer by trade, with a passion for mechanical engineering, and I think this thing just hit my nerd G spot
I've seen these difference engines before. They are truly un-fucking-believable. Babbage doesn't get nearly enough credit for his work.
And yeah it's not an iphone. Considering when this was created it is far beyond that.
I love analogue computers, its interesting how there making a comeback.
28 years from Diff 1 to Diff 2, I guess Moore's Law wasn't applicable...
@--Tito--: They are working on it. The mechanical upgrades are the size of Jupiter, and will take 1000 years to be complete.
Great post. As for the comments, enough. with. the. steampunk.
astounding, beautiful!
I got love for you if you were born in the 1800s the 1800s
"The Difference Engine" by Sterling and Gibson is a good read, creating a world where the computer age happened prior to the electrical age and the first computers were steam driven cybernetic engines. Much like this one I imagine.
And how many Megaflops is that?
That's good, it should mean the Science Museum can put their old back on display. They had taken over its section to set up the workshop for this newer copy.
I think that Difference Engine is busted. No matter what I do it just keeps spitting out the number "42"
@mikeness: +1!
I love it when rich guys spend their money on cool sh*t like this. It makes me want to be rich too.
Props to Nathan!
Aaah. Just in time to work out our artillery bombardments of the Kaiser's armies.
Giz, we demand this flv player of yours to have a "full screen" button. Yes, we do.
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