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 ...

Christel Hamann’s difference engine was a type of mechanical calculator made in the 1900s. It was automatic and could help people calculate and arrange polynomial functions used in science, ...

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 ...