Charles Babbage (Wikipedia entry here) is known as the creator of the first ‘computer’ – a mechanical device known as the difference engine – but did you know he designed a printer too? In 2000 The Science Museum created a printer from Babbage’s plans. The Science Museum has a great deal of information available online about Charles Babbage – this article is a good introduction to the principles behind the difference engine.

No article mentioning the Science Museum in 2012 could omit a word about the Turing exhibition. We paid it a visit and loved it. Watch out for a write-up when we reach T for Turing, or should that be B for Bletchley or C for Cambridge, or E for Enigma…