World’s Earliest and Heaviest Computer
on Display in San Francisco Imagine a computer that consists of 8,000 parts of bronze, cast iron, and steel and weighs five tons while measuring eleven feet long and seven feet high. Can’t imagine it? Well, you don’t have to, because you can see if for yourself at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.
Charles Babbage (1791-1871) was a visionary innovator during the Industrial Age, when mathematics and computing were becoming increasingly crucial. His designs for vast mechanical calculating engines rank as one of the startling achievements of the 19th century. In 1847, he envisioned an automated computing engine that, due to the limitations of his day, was never built.  Until now. His Difference Engine No 2, one of the world's earliest designs for an automatic computing engine, has been constructed in London and shipped to California for its United States debut at the Computer History Museum. Visitors to the Museum will have the unprecedented opportunity to see and hear the Engine working while admiring its logical conception, physical size, and intricacy. It will be on display until May 2009.
The Museum also houses a permanent collection of fascinating computing artefacts, including a collection of early examples of visible storage and video games and an exhibit on the History of Computer Chess, which has largely influenced the progression of artificial intelligence. www.computerhistory.org or 650-810-1010. Edited by Ellen Schofield | 