Today an exhibition opens at the Science Museum, Kensington, London, celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Babbage, which intends to prove that Babbage’s attempts to build Difference Engine No 2 failed because of political, social and financial factors – not because Victorian technology was not advanced enough. The Museum claims the proof lies in the centrepiece of the exhibition – the three tonne construction of the Difference Engine built following Babbage’s design using materials available last century, but modern machine techniques. The project took five years and cost UKP750,000, two-thirds of the funding came from sponsoring computer vendors ICL Plc, Hewlett-Packard Co, Rank Xerox Ltd, Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG and Unisys Corp. Further sponsorship is required to build the accompanying printer.
