I love learning about the history of calculators and computers. Apart from anything else, I spend far too much time thinking about how I would find gainful employment if I were to trip through a time slip and find myself lost in the past. One thing I could do is “invent” a mechanical calculation machine.
In the 1640s, the French mathematician, physicist, inventor, and philosopher Blaise Pascal invented a mechanical calculator called the Pascaline. This machine could directly add and subtract numbers using geared wheels and an ingenious automatic carry mechanism. Multiplication and division were possible only indirectly, by performing repeated additions or subtractions.
In the 1670s, the German polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz took things a significant step further with his Stepped Reckoner. Its key innovation was the stepped drum, now commonly called the Leibniz wheel, which allowed different numbers of gear teeth to engage depending on the digit being processed. Combined with a movable carriage, this made multiplication and division much more practical. Unfortunately, Leibniz’s machines were mechanically complex, temperamental, and never became commercially viable.
Next, we jump forward to the 1820s, when French inventor and entrepreneur Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar invented and patented his Arithmometer. This bodacious beauty essentially turned Leibniz’s clever idea into a practical machine. It used stepped drums and a movable carriage, with the operator setting numbers using sliders and turning a crank to perform calculations. Addition and subtraction were the fundamental mechanical operations, while multiplication and division were accomplished by repeated operations combined with shifting the carriage between decimal positions. Most importantly, Thomas refined the mechanism sufficiently for the Arithmometer to be manufactured and sold in significant numbers, making it the first commercially successful mechanical calculator.
The reason I’m waffling on about this here is that my friend Jay Dowling just sent me an email pointing me to a cool wooden calculator video on YouTube.
This awesome artifact was created by a young man called William (Will) Gerhardinger. It’s a full-up recreation of an Arithmometer implemented in plywood. All I can say is that that (a) I'm well impressed and (b) Will has way too much time on his hands.
This is truly impressive. What makes it even more impressive is that, instead of using a 3D printer or laser cutter, Will crafted his contraption by hand with a scroll saw. I can’t help myself—I keep on revisiting the video and shaking my head in a mixture of admiration and disbelief. What do you think about Will’s wondrous wooden whatsit?
I like the wooden calculator! This reminds me of going to Japan several years back, and purchasing tickets to ride the Shinkansen (bullet train). At the ticket office I told the agent where I wanted to go, and he went to his PC to check scheduling. Then he turned to a computer terminal to enter the ticket request into the system. Next he turned to a mechanical calculator, but before he told me the final amount he used an Abacus that was attached to the side of his computer screen. I couldn’t believe it! An Abacus in the midst of all this technology? He was very quick at it, though. It only took a few seconds. I guess you do what you’re most comfortable with- and the Abacus has certainly endured the test of time.
I’ve seen that sort of thing in Japan myself — it’s an interesting mix of technologies — thanks for sharing 🙂