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<a accesskey="3" href="page.php?w=difference_engine&amp;p=2">3.Next</a>
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<p>A <b>difference engine</b> is an automatic <a href="page.php?w=mechanical_calculator">mechanical calculator</a> designed to tabulate <a href="page.php?w=polynomial">polynomial</a> functions. It was designed in the 1820s, and was created by <a href="page.php?w=Charles_Babbage">Charles Babbage</a>. The name difference engine is derived from the method of <a href="page.php?w=finite_differences">finite differences</a>, a way to interpolate or tabulate functions by using a small set of polynomial co-efficients. Some of the most common <a href="page.php?w=mathematical_function">mathematical function</a>s</p><p>
<a accesskey="3" href="page.php?w=difference_engine&amp;p=2">3.Next</a>
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