Exhibit Launch & Open House: Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2

Join the Computer History Museum in launching its exciting new exhibit: Babbage’s Difference Engine No. 2, exhibited for the first time in North America. Bring your family and friends to see and hear the Engine in action!

This five-ton Engine is one of only two Charles Babbage’s computing engines ever built, consisting of 8,000 parts of bronze, cast iron and steel and measuring 11 feet long and 7 feet high. It was designed to calculate and print mathematical tables. Come to see the docents “crank” the Engine and watch it mechanically calculate - an arresting spectacle of automatic computing.

The exhibit launch and open house, a Victorian-themed event, promises a stunning display of Babbage’s elegant design and inspired engineering. His designs for vast mechanical calculating engines rank as one of the startling achievements of the 19th century.

The Babbage Exhibit is made possible through the generosity of the following donors: Nathan Myhrvold, Andreas Bechtolsheim, Bell Family Trust, Donna Dubinsky & Len Shustek, Judy Estrin, Fry’s Electronics - Kathryn Kolder, Dorrit & F. Grant Saviers, Marva & John Warnock, and special thanks to Science Museum, London.

Come to see what no Victorian ever saw.

May 10, 2008
12:00 pm

Add to Calendar 05/10/2008 12:00 pm America/Los_Angeles Exhibit Launch & Open House: Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine No. 2 Computer History Museum 1401 N. Shoreline Boulevard Mountain View, CA, 94043 United States
Location

Computer History Museum
1401 N. Shoreline Boulevard
Mountain View, CA, 94043

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