Difference Engine No.2, designed by Charles Babbage, 1847-1849, excludes printing mechanism. Engine built by Science Museum, completed June 1991. Size 2.1m high, 3.4m long, 0.5m wide

Charles Babbage - inventor, reformer, mathematician and philosopher - designed the Difference Engine No.2 to solve equations and print the results in the form of mathematical tables. It was one of two types of engine, difference engines and analytical engines, designed by Babbage. The engine was built by the Science Museum and the main part was completed in June 1991 for the bicentennial year of Babbage's birth. The printing mechanism was completed in 2000. Doron Swade, senior curator of computing and IT, oversaw its construction. Babbage conceived the engine to calculate a series of numerical values and automatically print the results. Difference Engine No 2 was never constructed in his lifetime.