From calculating clock to calculator: Here is how this counting device came into being
Living in the 21st century is a blessing, thanks to the numerous devices that ease our day-to-day tasks, especially the mechanical ones like counting. It’s not only necessary for solving your math questions, but also everyday transactions. While the capacity to do mental mathematics is always appreciated, a calculator is indispensable for bigger calculations.
But, once upon a time, there was no calculator and we humans only used our fingers (even toes at times!) for counting. However, apart from mental math, people used to rely on something else too. It is known as “the oldest continuously used calculating tool aside for fingers.” Wait, what are we talking about? Abacus. In use till date, humans didn’t stop at abacus. Over the course of history, they have come up with one calculating device after another, until the present-day calculator was born. As we observe World Science Day today, here is a peek into the birth of calculators.
Calculating clock: The precursor of the calculator
Deemed as the first ever adding device built by mankind, the calculating clock was invented by German professor Wilhelm Schickard as early as 1623. A worthy precursor to the first calculator that came a century later, this device was composed of a multiplying system, a 6-digit decimal adding system and a mechanism that generated intermediate results. Interestingly, the numbers were in Latin. Almost two decades later, French mathematician Blaise Pascal (in 1642) too came up with his own adding device and called it the ‘Pascaline’. It did more or less the same job, but was just smaller in size, and hence travel-friendly. Some say, it also gave more accurate results.
The world welcomes the first functional calculator
The year was 1773 when a German astronomer named Philipp Matthaus Hahn wanted to devise a machine that would help him improve on the designs of the clocks he had already created, such as the precision sundial in 1763. With the aim of being able to calculate the parameters of his clocks, Hahn based his calculating machine on ‘Stepped Reckoner’, a calculating device developed by German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1673. It was almost like the Pascaline, except its multiplying system was based on repeated addition and shifting of numbers. Hahn’s calculator, often regarded as the first ever mechanical calculator had a set of twelve drums arranged in a circular manner (with a tens-carrying mechanism) which could only be activated with the help of a crank built inside the axis of the drums.
However, Hahn’s calculator didn’t really launch into the market for public use. So, when exactly was calculator commercially produced for the first time? Well, that would be in 1820, in the hands of French inventor Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar who designed, patented and manufactured the world’s first commercially viable calculating device that had all the basic functions of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. It was called arithmometer and was popular till the First World War.
Evolution of calculator through the 20th century
Mankind hasn’t given up on advancing the calculator, especially since the mid-20th century. Here’s a glimpse of how the calculator evolved over the years.
1954: IBM 608, also called the world’s first transistor calculator, used as many as 3000 germanium solid-state transistors in place of the previous vacuum tubes. It was made by tech giant IBM, and was by far one of the most precise calculating devices made till then. It was meant for public use. It was a modern device that had the memory capacity to store 40 nine-digit numbers. In fact, it could perform all kinds of mathematical operations, including 4500 additions per second. Amazing, right?
1961: ANITA MK-8, or the first all-electronic desktop calculator available for commercial use, was developed by the British manufacturing company Bell Punch Co. This device has nearly 170 cold cathode vacuum tubes, a Dekatron decade counter tube and a cutting-edge Numicator (electronic) display. The acronym ANITA may have been the designer’s wife’s name or was short for “A New Inspiration to Accounting/ Arithmetic.”
1967: World’s first handheld calculator was developed by Texas Instruments and was named “Cal Tech.” It featured a small keyboard with 18 keys and a visual output that could display up to 12 decimal digits. It weighed around 45 ounces.
1971: The first pocket-sized electronic calculator had an LED display and was known as Busicom LE-120A “HANDY” and was developed by Busicom company. Also, the first calculator to use a “calculator on a chip” integrated circuit, it presented a 12-digit display in red LED. It also came with a wrist strap at the base to prevent any sort of damages.
1974: The first handheld programmable calculator was launched by tech major HP and was called HP-65, or the “Personal Computer.” The device enabled users to both buy programs on pre-programmed cards as well as write programs up to 100 lines long and keep them recorded using the cards. It was also the first calculator sent to the outer space by US-Soviet joint space mission in 1975. It could conduct over 80 operations using 35 keys, including octal and decimal base conversions.
1985: World welcomes the first graphing calculator made by Casio (now the lead producer of calculator worldwide) and is called CASIO FX-7000G. It had 422 bytes of memory where up to 10 programs can be stored. The device could also perform 82 distinct scientific functions and had a dot matrix graphical display. In 2003, it was further improved by the company SHARP, when they came up with SHARP EL-9650 calculator. It was a touch device equipped with a pen.
2010: Once again, Casio unveiled world’s first colour graphing calculator called CASIO PRIZM. It had a full-colour display, with high-end resolution.
Today, the world is slowly shifting towards using calculator apps on smart devices, but the good news is, calculators are here to stay for years to come!