Inventions

Key Points The Golden Gem Adding Machine was a portable, small, and easy-to-use mechanical calculator. The moving force behind Golden Gem and Automatic Adding Machine Company was Abraham Isaac Gancher. The device’s overall size is 6.9 cm x 13 cm x 10 cm, and it was quite heavy, weighing up to 750g. 3 Facts about […]

Key Points William George Cordingley, the author of several books for commerce and stock exchange. This article includes The Computometer of Cordingley patent drawing. The device had 7 digital positions, 5 leftmost are decimal. History of Computers and Computing, Calculating tools, Gadgets, Computometer The Computometer of William George Cordingley The Englishman William George Cordingley, the […]

Key Points: The Centigraph is an adding machine that goes back to 1880. The inventor of the Centigraph Adding Machine was Arthur E. Shattuck. Arthur E. Shattuck got 1 Canada and 4 USA patents for calculating devices. Centigraph Adding Machine was equipped with five keys of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.   Centigraph Adding […]

Key Points These were marketed to the average businessman who needed to relief some mental stress caused from math. This was a cogged wheel adder that was operated by a stylus, like many other similar contraptions. It had a customizable design. When we picture calculators, we picture a device that almost resembles a cell phone […]

History of Computers and Computing, Calculating tools, Gadgets, Bassett Key Points: This is a continuous band adding machine. There were two versions of the Bassett Adder. The device was sold for $1 in 1909, which is about equivalent to $32 today. Bassett Adder After disappearing from the market of Webb’s Ribbon Adder in the end […]

3 Facts about BriCal The BriCal was invented to quickly calculate pre-decimal British currency up to £500. This popular British calculator came in many different configurations for different maximum results and currencies. There are 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shilling in a pound, which make quick currency calculations difficult without a BriCal. BriCal […]

Key Points: William Borland and Herman Hoffman worked together to produce this machine and patent. This early machine utilized levers and springs to calculate. Similar to some other inventors, Hoffman had experience as a clockmaker. History of Computers and Computing, Calculating tools, Gadgets, Borland and Hoffmann adding machine. Borland and Hoffmann Adding Machine In 1878 […]

Key Points Henry Goldman wrote a book called THE ARITHMACHINIST in 1898. In the book, he listed all of the popular adding machines of the time and proposed his own new invention. Henry Goldman’s machine was patented and built in the 1890s. He named it the Arithmachine. The Arithmachine was marketed to bookkeepers, accountants, and […]

Key Points Adix adding machine inventor ​​Josef Benedikt Pallweber was born on February 7th, 1858 in Austria. First patented in 1904, the Adix adding machine would remain in production for the next 26 years until 1930. The Adix adding machine was an early mechanical calculator with a click-wheel column that added, nine separate keys, and an […]

Key Points The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient Greek mechanical device used to calculate and display astronomical data. The Antikythera mechanism was discovered by divers in 1900 near Point Gylphadia, Antikythera. The machine was sophisticated for the time and contained 30 miniature gears. Antikythera Mechanism – Complete History of the Antikythera Computer Antikythera Mechanism Antikythera […]

Key Points Arthur James Postans lived from 1867 to 1940 and lived in South Kensington, London, and invented many types of machines. Arthur James Postans invented an adding machine, called The Adder, in 1902. The Adder was manufactured by the Adder Cash Register Syndicate Limited of London, England, from 1908 to 1920. History of Computers […]

Key Points About Add-A-Mite The design of Add-A-Mite is very similar to Webb Adder. This calculator is made from Aluminum, Iron, and Brass. This pocket calculator was manufactured by the company, Monogram of California Add-a-Mite History Far back in the past, written numbers used to be inexistent, with humans using only fingers and toes to […]

Key Points The earliest calculating devices were the methods of shorthand writing used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Mesopotamians. At one time sticks, knots, and tally marks were popular ways of keeping track of quantities. Early calculating tools are historically significant because, without them, we would have no digital calculators, and without those, we […]

Key Points: An Astrolabe is an invention that generates results with the universe’s help by using the positions of the stars or the sun to calculate results. It was once used in navigation to assist explorers and sailors in navigation by calculating distance by measuring the distance between the sun and the stars above the […]

Key Points: The first documented south-pointing chariot was created by Ma Jun of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms. While his was the first put to paper, it’s likely several other versions of this Chinese compass were conceived before. The south-pointing chariot could only work as an effective navigation tool if the ground surface was […]

Key Points: The sector is a military compass used as a calculating instrument.  Sector was introduced in the early 17th century and was used to perform easily diverse geometric and arithmetic operations. The Sector was probably invented by several people concurrently – although it appears that the earliest was the Italian mathematician Fabrizio Mordente (1532-1608) […]

Key Points: Pehr-Georg Scheutz is most known for creating the Differential Engine, the first operational and commercially accessible difference engine. After being shown at the 1855 World’s Fair in Paris, the bigger, better version became the first printing calculator to be marketed, and it was delivered in 1857. Scheutz learned how to compute mathematical tables […]

Key Points George Grant established a gear-cutting machine shop in Charlestown, Massachusetts, soon after his graduation in 1873. George Grant created the difference engine and prepared it for exhibition in 1876. The difference machine of Grant was approximately 2.5 meters long and 1.5 meters high, weighing about 900 kg. 3 Facts about George Grant’s Difference […]

Key Points The German engineer Christel Hamann (1870-1948) was a historical figure and involved in the invention of mechanical calculators. There were other differential engines being created by prominent persons such as Charles Babbage; however, Christel Hamann’s mechanical Calculator is noteworthy . Christel Hamann’s differential Engine and its construction plan do not exist, only layout […]

Key Points Leonardo Torres y Quevedo was a late nineteenth Spanish civil engineer and mathematician. Leonardo Torres y Quevedo submitted his “Report on Algebraic Machines” to the General Directorate of Public Works in Spain in 1893 Torres-Quevedo invented wireless remote-control operation concepts.  3 Facts about Leonardo Torres y Quevedo’s Calculating Machine A model of Thomas […]

ON A PROPOSED ANALYTICAL MACHINE by Percy E. Ludgate Read February 23. Ordered for Publication March 9. Published April 28, 1909 Key Points An Analytical Machine must have some means of storing the numerical data of the problem to be solved. This article depicts the paper written by Percy E. Ludgate on April 28th, 1901. […]

Key Points A numerical table is a tool designed to save the time and labor of those engaged in computing work. A numerical table is the Ancient World’s most important astronomical documents. During the thirteenth century the Ptolemy’s tables caught the attention of King Alphonso the Wise of Castile who gathered scholars for research. Charles […]

Key Points Charles Babbage is considered the Father of Computers. The Analytical Engine was a general, all purpose, program controlled digital computer with no human intervention. There is no evidence that anyone attempted to create this design before Charles Babbage. 3 Facts about Charles Babbage Analytical Engine The Analytical Engine was a general-purpose, completely program-controlled, […]