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The difference engine : Charles Babbage and the quest to build the first computer
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The difference engine : Charles Babbage and the quest to build the first computer

by Doron Swade

This history examines the 19th-century quest to develop mechanical calculating engines and the modern project to build a functional model. It details the origins of computing and the effort to eliminate errors in mathematical tables through mechanised arithmetic.

Accession 21783 ISBN 0670910201 Publisher Viking
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TAGS
Curated Derived
Computer Science History Invention Mathematics Science Technology
CONNECTIONS
No connections
State
on_shelf
True
position_updated_at
2026-06-01 16:33
orientation
vertical
Details

Physical

binding_type
Hard Back
dimensions
none captured
spine_text
none captured

Metadata

Book form
LOCATION HISTORY
M:N3:4 2 Current vertical
4 days, 19 hours ago
M:N3:3 2 vertical
1 week, 1 day ago
M:N3:4 2 vertical
1 week, 3 days ago
Book Location
Updated 4 days, 19 hours ago
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Last synced 2026-05-21 01:34 (2 weeks, 2 days ago)

Identity

name→ title
The difference engine : Charles Babbage and the quest to build the first computer
vernon_id
32117
accession_no→ accession_number
21783
vernon_slug
the-difference-engine-charles-babbage-and-the-quest-to-build-the-first-computer-doron-swade

Drives Pulse state

curr_loc_status→ on_shelf
On Shelf
location_name
Zone N3/Level 2 (Mezzanine)/Phrontisterion/MONA
location_reason
On Shelf
isbn_issn→ isbn (when valid)
0670910201

Descriptive

production_date
2000
object_type
Books/Document genres/Information forms/Visual and Verbal Communication
object_status
Accessioned
brief_description
Portrait of early nineteenth-century mathematician Charles Babbage describes his efforts to construct the first computing machine more than one century before the invention of the modern computer. -- blurb

Subjects & people

authors→ author (initial fill only)
Doron Swade
tags→ tags
Science, Computer software, Computer systems, Computers, Mathematics -- History
subject_people
Ada Lovelace (English, b.1815, d.1852), Charles Babbage (b.1791, d.1871)
subject_objects
—

Cover image

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38763

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