Differential analyser
Mechanical analogue computer / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The differential analyser is a mechanical analogue computer designed to solve differential equations by integration, using wheel-and-disc mechanisms to perform the integration.[1] It was one of the first advanced computing devices to be used operationally.[2] The original machines could not add, but then it was noticed that if the two wheels of a rear differential are turned, the drive shaft will compute the average of the left and right wheels. Addition and subtraction are then achieved by using a simple gear ratio of 1:2; the gear ratio provides multiplication by two, and multiplying the average of two values by two gives their sum. Multiplication is just a special case of integration, namely integrating a constant function.[3]