It all started with a fairy tale. After all, Gulliver's Travels is still a fairy tale? A tale told by the evil and witty Jonathan Swift (1667 - 1745). A fairy tale in which he ridiculed many of the stupidities and stupidities of his contemporary world. Why, he made fun of him - he shamelessly urinated on everything possible. Like the hero of his work, who poured urine on the royal palace in Lilliput when it caught fire.
In the third book about Gulliver's travels, this sensible ship's doctor ends up on the flying island of Laputa, where brilliant scientists live. Well, there is only one step from genius to madness and, according to Jonathan Swift, Laputan scientists have taken this step. Their inventions should promise benefits to all of humanity. Meanwhile, they look funny and pathetic.
Among other Laputian scientists, there was one who invented a machine for writing brilliant inventions, novels, and scientific treatises. All this must have arisen completely randomly on a machine consisting of many cubes similar to dice. Forty students turned the handles that set all these cubes in motion, which as a result turned with different faces, forming all sorts of words and combinations of words, from which sooner or later brilliant creations were to be formed.
It is known that J. Swift, in the form of this scientist, parodied his older contemporary Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646 - 1716). To be honest, Leibniz was not worthy of such ridicule. His scientific account includes many discoveries and inventions, including mathematical analysis, differential and integral calculus, combinatorics and mathematical logic. Tsar Peter I (written about him on April 25, 2014) during his stay in Germany in 1712 met with Leibniz. Leibniz was able to instill in the Russian emperor two important ideas that influenced the further development of the Russian Empire. This is the idea of creating the Imperial Academy of Sciences and the idea of the “Table of Ranks”
Among Leibniz's inventions is the world's first adding machine, which he invented in 1672. This adding machine was supposed to automate arithmetic calculations, which until then were considered the prerogative of the human mind. In general, Leibniz answered the question “can a machine think?” answered positively, and Swift ridiculed him for it.
As a matter of fact, G.V. Leibniz cannot be considered the real inventor of the adding machine. He came up with the idea, he made the prototype. But the real adding machine was invented in 1874 by Vilgod Odner. V. Odner was a Swede, but lived in St. Petersburg. He patented his invention first in Russia and then in Germany. And the production of Odhner's adding machines began in 1890 in St. Petersburg, and in 1891 in Germany. So Russia is not only the birthplace of elephants, but also the birthplace of adding machines.
After the revolution, the production of adding machines in the USSR remained. Arithmometers were originally produced in Moscow, at the Dzerzhinsky plant. That's why they called him "Felix". Until the 1960s, adding machines were produced at factories in Kursk and Penza.
The “highlight” of the design of V. Odner’s adding machine was a special gear wheel with a variable number of teeth. This wheel was called the “Odhner Wheel” and, depending on the position of the special lever, could have from one to nine teeth.
There were 9 digits on the adding machine panel. Accordingly, 9 Odner wheels were attached to the arithmometer axis. The numbers in the digits were set by moving the lever along the panel to one of 10 positions, from 0 to 9. At the same time, the corresponding number of teeth extended on each of the wheels. After typing a number, you could turn the crank in one direction (for addition) or in the other direction (for subtraction). In this case, the teeth of each wheel meshed with one of the 9 intermediate gears and turned them by the corresponding number of teeth. The corresponding number appeared on the resulting counter. After this, the second number was dialed and the two numbers were added or subtracted. On the carriage of the adding machine there was a handle revolution counter, which was reset to zero if necessary.
Multiplication was performed by repeated addition, and division by repeated subtraction. But multiplying multi-digit numbers, for example, 15 by 25, by first setting the number 15 and then turning the adding machine 25 times in one direction, was tedious. With such an approach, an error could easily creep into the calculations.
To multiply or divide multi-digit numbers, the carriage was made movable. In this case, multiplying, for example, by 25 was reduced to shifting the carriage to the right by one digit, two turns of the knob towards “+”. After this, the carriage moved to the left and the handle turned 5 more times. The division was carried out in the same way, only the handle had to be rotated towards “-”
The adding machine was a simple but very effective device. Until electronic computers and calculators appeared, it was widely used in all sectors of the national economy of the USSR. 
And in scientific institutions too. Calculations for the atomic project were carried out using adding machines. But the calculations for launching satellites into orbit and the calculations for a hydrogen bomb were very complex. It was no longer possible to produce them manually. So in the Soviet Union the green light was given for the production and use of electronic computers. Although cybernetics, as you know, was a public whore on the bed of American imperialism.
?FEDERAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION
STAVROPOL STATE UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS
DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
ABSTRACT
"ADDING MACHINE"
Performed:
Khrestenko S. V.
1st year student at FMF
specialty Applied
mathematics and computer science
Stavropol, 2012
Content
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….3
1. History of adding machines……..…………………………………… ……….5
2. Models of adding machines………..………………………………… ………..9
3. Functions of adding machines…………………………….……………… ……10
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………13
List of sources used……………………………………….14
Introduction
Arithmometer (from the Greek ??????? - “number”, “count” and the Greek ?????? - “measure”, “meter”) - a desktop (or portable) mechanical computing machine designed for precise multiplication and division, as well as addition and subtraction.
Most often, adding machines were desktop or “knee-mounted” (like modern laptops); occasionally there were pocket models (Curta). This distinguished them from large floor-standing computers such as tabulators (T-5M) or mechanical computers (Z-1, Charles Babbage's Difference Engine).
Numbers are entered into the adding machine, converted and transmitted to the user (displayed in counter windows or printed on tape) using only mechanical devices. In this case, the adding machine can use exclusively a mechanical drive (that is, to work on them you need to constantly turn the handle) or perform part of the operations using an electric motor (The most advanced adding machines - computers, for example "Facit CA1-13", use an electric motor for almost any operation) .
Arithmometers are digital (not analog, such as a slide rule) devices. Therefore, the calculation result does not depend on the reading error and is absolutely accurate. They are intended primarily for multiplication and division. Therefore, almost all adding machines have a device that displays the number of additions and subtractions - a revolution counter (since multiplication and division are most often implemented as sequential addition and subtraction; for more details, see below).
Adding machines can perform addition and subtraction. But on primitive lever models (for example, on the Felix) these operations are performed very slowly - faster than multiplication and division, but noticeably slower than on the simplest adding machines or even manually.
When working on an adding machine, the order of actions is always set manually - immediately before each operation, you should press the corresponding key or turn the corresponding lever. This feature of the adding machine is not included in the definition, since there were practically no programmable analogues of adding machines.
1. History of adding machines
An adding machine is a device used for mechanically performing large calculations, or a numeral machine. The history of the discovery of the Arithmometer begins in ancient times; In almost all periods of human development we see attempts to find a way to facilitate calculations through automatic adaptation. In the ancient period of history, when the use of ancient digital signs presented many inconveniences, the so-called abacos was invented (see this next); or a counting board, which was used not only by children, but also by mathematicians and astronomers. The Chinese, in turn, had in common use calculating device, reminiscent in shape of the Russian abacus of our time, which greatly facilitated mental calculations. The later discovery of logarithms and their adaptation to complex arithmetic calculations is a major step towards finding a method by which we can perform and control our calculations. At the same time, we see that the efforts of many inventors are aimed at building a numerical machine that would not require other knowledge from a person other than reading digital signs. In the period from the beginning of the 17th century. Until now, one can count countless numbers of numerals, partly for general, partly for special calculations. All such numerical machines, or Arithmometers, as they are usually called, can be classified under two main types: the first type includes those devices that only reduce and ease the mental stress of a person, while devices of the second type carry out the most complex calculations without any participation of the human mind , through known manipulations, and which can rather be called automatic counters. Of the A-s of the first type, we point out the A-s of Edmond Gunther (pictured in 1624) and Gaspar Schott (1668). Both took advantage of the discovery of logarithmic tables, which they placed the first on a circle, and the second on movable cylinders so that with a very simple device the results of multiplication and division over large numbers are immediately obtained. The same type should include the counter using Napier's twigs (rabdology), Laland's Arithmoplanimeter (1839) and many others, which, differing in their design, were based on the same idea - to facilitate and reduce production through a simple device complex operations on large numbers. The discovery of A-s of the second type is entirely the property of our century. The best representative of this type should undoubtedly be recognized as the Ar-r of the Alsatian Thomas, invented in 1820, as satisfying all the fair requirements of an automatic counter and as having become universally used in practical mathematics, despite the complexity of its design. In the drawing attached here we give a schematic representation of this ingenious device.
Schematic drawing of the Thomas adding machine.
By moving the pointers C, we set a given number subject to a known action; the handle, which drives a whole system of gear wheels, translates this number into E numerators; the second number is again set on the indicators C, and with the help of the same handle, in compliance with known rules, the result of the actions to which these numbers must be subjected is obtained in the numerators E. Arithm. Thomas, in addition to all four basic operations of arithmetic, performs exponentiation, logarithmization and other calculations, and all operations are absolutely correct and mathematically accurate. But the main and invaluable advantage of Thomas’s device must be recognized as the fact that anyone can easily use it without special mathematical knowledge; The device is quite simple and does not cause fatigue with prolonged use. Without going into details A-p designs and Thomas and methods of handling him, we refer the interested reader to the articles: “Instruction pour se servir de l'Arithmometre, inventee par Thomas” (Paris, 1851) and “La grande Encyclopedie”, vol. III, p. 957. From adding machines of Russian origin, we point out the A-s: our famous academician P. L. Chebyshev, the Jewish scientist Kh. Z. Slonimsky and the latest design of the A-r V. T. Odner, invented in 1890. We place on the attached table a drawing of the Odner Arithmometer in ? natural size.
Arithmometer by V. T. Ordner.
Let us dwell in detail on the design of this device and the method of its use. Handle B is connected to a cylinder, to which are attached spokes extending from slots A in the casing. The spokes are rearranged in different positions to each other, along the slots. The initial position of the cylinder is indicated by the vertical position of the handle; in this position, the handle is held by a spring, therefore, it must be released to rotate. The initial position of the cylinder is also the initial position of the spokes, indicating zero. By moving the knitting needles, you can put all the numbers on the cover from 0 to 9; To make it easier to set numbers, the slots are numbered from right to left. The box contains two systems of holes; in the large holes appear the numbers set before turning the handle with the spokes on the lid, as well as the result of the addition or subtraction. The numbers in the small holes show the difference in the number of turns of the handle in both directions (arrow + and arrow -), in other words, control over the number of turns of the handle. The entire box, depending on need, moves by pressing button D, whereby the latch falls into the slots, holding the box. The latter position is indicated by the dots above the holes, namely: if one of the dots is under the arrow on the left side of the lid, the latch fits into the slots and holds the drawer. The box moves only when the handle is in a vertical position, the movement of which is possible only with the above-mentioned position of the box. The digits of the box in the large holes are cleared by rotating the right and in the small holes the left swallow C. The swallows must always be in their original position, indicated by the recesses. The manipulation of the Odhner Arithmometer comes down to the following four points: setting the numbers on the lid, rotating the handle, moving the box and rotating the swallows. Based on these four operations, problems are solved using all four rules of arithmetic. Let us give several examples illustrating the use of Odner's A-ohm. Let's say we need to find the sum: 75384 + 6278 + 6278 + 9507.
The handle must first be in its original position and the numbers in the holes should show zero. Having installed 75384 on the knitting needles, turn the handle in the direction of the arrow + once; having then installed 6278, the handle is turned in the same direction twice; By installing 9507 again and turning the handle, the number 97447 will appear in the large holes - the required amount. In small holes, the number 4 will only show the number of turns of the handle. Find the product 49563 x 24? Since the product consists of 24 numerical sums of the number 49563, it is therefore necessary to set the number 49563 on the lid and make 24 turns of the handle in the direction of the + arrow. Moving the box allows you to reduce the number of revolutions by 4 + 2 = 6. Having made 4 revolutions, the box moves to the next point under the arrow on the left side of the lid and the handle is turned two more times, with the large holes of the box showing the result 1189512 and the small ones - a factor of 24. V at the beginning of the operation, it is clear that all holes should show 0. It is easy to guess that for subtraction they use the arrow -, and that division is an abbreviated subtraction, reduced on the device to the action of the latter (for A-x of a different kind, see the articles: Babage, Integrators and “ Addition").
2. Models of adding machines
Models of adding machines differed mainly in the degree of automation (from non-automatic, capable of independently performing only addition and subtraction, to fully automatic, equipped with mechanisms for automatic multiplication, division and some others) and in design (the most common models were based on the Odner wheel and Leibniz roller) . It should immediately be noted that non-automatic and automatic cars were produced at the same time - automatic ones, of course, were much more convenient, but they cost about two orders of magnitude more than non-automatic ones.
Non-automatic adding machines on the Odhner wheel
“Arithmometer of the V. T. Odner system” are the first adding machines of this type. They were produced during the life of the inventor (approximately 1880-1905) at a factory in St. Petersburg.
"Soyuz" - produced since 1920 at the Moscow Factory of Calculating and Writing Machines.
"OriginalDynamo" was produced since 1920 at the Dynamo plant in Kharkov.
"Felix" is the most common adding machine in the USSR. Produced from 1929 to the end of the 1970s.
Automatic adding machines on the Odhner wheel
Facit CA 1-13 - one of the smallest automatic adding machines
VK-3 is its Soviet clone.
Non-automatic Leibniz roller adding machines
Thomas adding machines and a number of similar lever models produced until the beginning of the 20th century.
Keyboard machines, e.g. Rheinmetall Ie or Nisa K2
Automatic adding machines on a Leibniz roller
Rheinmetall SAR - One of the two best calculating machines in Germany. Its distinctive feature - a small ten-key (like on a calculator) keyboard to the left of the main one - was used to enter a multiplier when multiplying.
VMA, VMM are its Soviet clones.
The Friden SRW is one of the few adding machines capable of automatically extracting square roots.
Other adding machines
Mercedes Euklid 37MS, 38MS, R37MS, R38MS, R44MS - these computers were the main competitors of Rheinmetall SAR in Germany. They worked a little slower, but had more functions.
3. Functions of adding machines
Entering a numberWhen working on any adding machine (as well as on any calculator), you can enter a number, which can then be used as a addend, subtrahend, dividend, divisor or one of the factors.
In lever adding machines, which include "Curta", the number is entered by moving the levers. The "Curta" levers are on the side (small red handles that are visible in the left picture). In order to enter a number, it is enough to move the levers to the appropriate number of positions; for example, in order to enter the number 109, you need to move the third lever on the right one position down, and the first lever on the right - nine positions down.
On the virtual adding machine, move the mouse pointer over the corresponding lever, click on left button mouse and drag the lever down. In this case, the corresponding changes will also occur in the diagram (bottom right).
Changing the order of a number
Most often implemented in the form of a carriage movement device. For example, in order to multiply the number 1554 by 11, just enter the number 1554, transfer it to the results counter, change the order by one and transfer it again to the results counter (1554*11=1554+1554*10)
On the virtual adding machine, move the mouse pointer over the red 3D arrow and click on the left mouse button. The arrow is in the side view, located above the drum with levers, outside the adding machine. In this case, the corresponding changes will also occur in the diagram (bottom right).
Direct number transfer (addition, subtraction)
You can add (subtract) the entered number to (from) the result counter.
To add on a virtual adding machine, move the mouse pointer over the red arrow (in the end view, located at the “4 o’clock” position) and click on the left mouse button. In this case, the arithmometer handle will make a full revolution and a direct transfer of the number will occur.
To subtract on a virtual adding machine, you must first move the mouse pointer over the red arrow (in the side view, located in the upper right part of the picture and pointing upward) and click on the left mouse button. In this case, the handle will move to the upper position - “subtraction” (you can lower the handle back by pressing the arrow again). After this, move the mouse pointer over the red arrow (in the end view, located at the “4 o’clock” position) and click on the left mouse button.
In this case, the corresponding changes will also occur in the diagram (bottom right).
Revolution count
Each time you move a number, the revolution counter value automatically increases (or decreases) by one in the digit corresponding to the position of the carriage. For example, when the carriage is in the extreme left position, one is added (subtracted) to the rightmost digit of the revolution counter, if the carriage is moved one digit to the right, one will be added (subtracted) to the second digit from the right, etc.
On a virtual adding machine this also happens automatically; a unit is added or subtracted depending on the position of the corresponding lever (central figure).
Clearing counters
When working on an adding machine, it is always possible to clear any counter. To clear the revolution counter on the virtual adding machine, move the mouse pointer over the red arrow (in the end view, located at the “11 o’clock” position) and click on the left mouse button.
To clear the results counter on the virtual adding machine, move the mouse pointer over the red arrow (in the end view, located at the “10 o’clock” position) and click on the left mouse button.
The setting register on the Kurt adding machine is cleared manually: to clear it, you need to set the number 0.
Note: the positions of the arrows are given for the initial state of the adding machine. After clearing each register, their position changes, then desired arrow is chosen by analogy with starting position.
In this case, corresponding changes will also occur on the diagram.
Conclusion
Thus, having considered the topic “Arithmometer”, I would like to say that its invention played an important role in science. An adding machine is a machine designed to quickly perform arithmetic operations, including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. By creating the stepped roller and the multiplier shift, he gave impetus to the development of computer technology.
List of sources used
1. Organization and technology of accounting mechanization; B. Drozdov, G. Evstigneev, V. Isakov; 1952
2. Calculating machines; I. S. Evdokimov, G. P. Evstigneev, V. N. Kriushin; 1955
3. Computers, V. N. Ryazankin, G. P. Evstigneev, N. N. Tresvyatsky. Part 1.
4. Central Bureau Directory technical information instrumentation and automation; 1958
5. http://www.brocgaus.ru/text/006/184.htm
Approximately 5th - 6th century BC.
The appearance of the abacus (Egypt, Babylon)
Around 6th century AD
Chinese abacus appears.
1623
The first calculating machine (Germany, Wilhelm Schickard). It consists of separate devices - summing, multiplying and recording. Almost nothing was known about this device until 1957, so it did not have a significant impact on the development of computer engineering.
1642
Blaise Pascal's eight-bit adding machine. Unlike Schiccard's machine, Pascal's machine became relatively widely known in Europe and until recently was considered the first calculating machine in the world. In total, several dozen cars were produced.
1672 - 1694
The first adding machine was created (Gottfried Leibniz, Germany). In 1672, two-digit, and in 1694 - twelve-digit
etc.................
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1694 created a machine that made it possible to mechanically perform multiplication operations and was called the “Leibniz calculator (arithmometer). The main part of the adding machine was a stepped roller, the so-called cylinder, with teeth of different lengths; they could interact with the counting wheel. And by moving this wheel along the roller, it clung to the required number of teeth, which ensured the installation of the desired number.
Essentially, the Leibniz adding machine was the first arithmetic machine in the world that was designed to perform the four basic arithmetic operations and allowed a 9-bit multiplier to be used with an 8-bit multiplicand to produce a 16-bit product. Compared to Pascal's device, the adding machine significantly accelerated the execution of arithmetic operations, but was not particularly widespread due to the lack of demand for it and design inaccuracy. But Leibniz’s idea itself turned out to be very fruitful - to install a stepped roller in his adding machine. Photos for comparison can be found on the Internet.
According to Norbert Wiener, Leibniz could also become the patron saint of cybernetics, meaning his work on the binary number system and mathematical logic. However, in those days, scientists rarely turned out to be theoreticians, so Leibniz became a milestone in the history of computer science and cybernetics. This is how the prototype appeared - the first adding machine 1672.
Until a certain point in its development, humanity, when counting objects, was content with a natural “calculator” - ten fingers given from birth. When they became scarce, we had to come up with various primitive tools: counting stones, sticks, abacus, Chinese suan-pan, Japanese soroban, Russian abacus. The design of these instruments is primitive, but handling them requires a fair amount of skill. For example, for a modern person born in the era of calculators, mastering multiplication and division on an abacus is extremely difficult. Such miracles of “bone” balancing act are now possible, perhaps, only for a microprogrammer privy to the secrets of the operation of an Intel microprocessor.
A breakthrough in the mechanization of counting came when European mathematicians began racing to invent adding machines. However, it’s worth starting the review with a fundamentally different class of computers.
Dead end branch
In 1614, the Scottish baron John Napier (1550-1617) published a brilliant treatise, “Description of the Surprising Table of Logarithms,” which introduced a revolutionary computational method into mathematical use. Based on the logarithmic law, which, so to speak, “replaces” multiplication and division with addition and subtraction, tables were compiled that facilitate the work, first of all, of astronomers operating with large arrays of numbers.
After some time, the Welshman Edmund Gunter (1581-1626) proposed a mechanical device using a logarithmic scale to facilitate calculations. Several scales graduated according to the exponential law were accompanied by two measuring compasses, which had to be operated simultaneously, determining the sum or difference of the scale segments, which made it possible to find the product or quotient. These manipulations required increased care.
In 1632, English mathematicians William Oughtred (1575-1660) and Richard Delamain (1600-1644) invented the slide rule, in which the scales are shifted relative to each other, and therefore there was no need to use such a burden when calculating, like compasses. Moreover, the British proposed two designs: rectangular and round, in which logarithmic scales were printed on two concentric rings rotating relative to each other.
The “canonical” design of the slide rule appeared in 1654 and was used throughout the world until the beginning of the era of electronic calculators. Its author was the Englishman Robert Bissaker. He took three graduated strips 60 centimeters long, fastened the two outer ones with a metal frame, and the middle one was used as a slider that slid between them. But this design did not provide for a slider that recorded the result of the operation performed. The need for this undoubtedly useful element was expressed in 1675 by the great Sir Isaac Newton (Isaac Newton, 1643-1727), again an Englishman. However, his absolutely fair wish was realized only a century later.
It should be noted that the logarithmic method of calculations is based on the analog principle, when numbers are “replaced” by their analogues, in this case - the lengths of segments. Such an analogue is not discrete; it does not increase by one in the least significant digit of the number. This is a continuous quantity, which, unfortunately, has a certain error that arises during its measurement and low accuracy of presentation. In order for a slide rule to be able to process, say, 10-digit numbers, its length must reach several tens of meters. It is quite clear that the implementation of such a project is absolutely pointless.
On the same ideological principle as the slide rule, analog computers (AVM) were created in the twentieth century. In them, the calculated quantity was represented by an electric potential, and the computational process was modeled using electrical circuit. Such devices were quite versatile and made it possible to solve many important problems. The undeniable advantage of the AVM compared to digital machines of that time was its high performance. An equally undeniable drawback is the low accuracy of the results obtained. When powerful computer systems, the problem of performance became less acute, and AVMs gradually faded into the shadows, although they did not disappear from the face of the earth.
Toothy arithmetic
At a superficial glance, it may seem that the court of history has dealt even more mercilessly with another type of computing mechanism - adding machines. Indeed, now they can only be found in museums. For example, in our Polytechnic, or in the German Museum in Munich (Deutches Museum), or in the Museum of Computer Science in Hannover (Ponton Computer-Museum). However, this is fundamentally wrong. Based on the operating principle of arithmometers (bitwise addition and shifting the sum of partial products), electronic arithmetic devices, the “head” of the computer, were created. Subsequently, they acquired a control device, memory, peripherals, and, in the end, were “embedded” in a microprocessor.
One of the first adding machines, or rather “adding machine,” was invented by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) around 1500. True, no one knew about his ideas for almost four centuries. A drawing of this device was discovered only in 1967, and from it IBM recreated a fully functional 13-bit adding machine, which used the principle of 10-tooth wheels.Ten years earlier, as a result of historical research in Germany, drawings and a description of an adding machine were discovered, made in 1623 by Wilhelm Schickard (1592-1636), a professor of mathematics at the University of Tübingen. It was a very “advanced” 6-bit machine, consisting of three nodes: an addition-subtraction device, a multiplying device, and a block for recording intermediate results. If the adder was made on traditional gears that had cams for transferring a transfer unit to an adjacent digit, then the multiplier was built in a very sophisticated way. In it, the German professor used the “lattice” method, when, using a gear “multiplication table” mounted on shafts, each digit of the first factor is multiplied by each digit of the second, after which all these partial products are added with a shift.
This model turned out to be workable, which was proven in 1957, when it was recreated in Germany. However, it is unknown whether Schickard himself was able to build his own adding machine. There is evidence contained in his correspondence with the astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) that the unfinished model was destroyed by fire in a workshop. In addition, the author, who soon died of cholera, did not have time to introduce information about his invention into scientific use, and it became known only in the middle of the twentieth century.
Therefore, Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), who was the first to not only design, but also build a working arithmometer, started, as they say, from scratch. A brilliant French scientist, one of the creators of probability theory, the author of several important mathematical theorems, a natural scientist who discovered atmospheric pressure and determined the mass of the earth’s atmosphere, and an outstanding thinker who left behind such works as “Thoughts” and “Letters to provincial,” was in everyday life the loving son of the president of the royal chamber of fees. As a nineteen-year-old boy in 1642, wanting to help his father, who spent a lot of time and effort preparing financial statements, he designed a machine that could add and subtract numbers.
The first sample constantly broke down, and two years later Pascal made a more advanced model. It was a purely financial machine: it had six decimal places and two additional ones: one divided into 20 parts, the other into 12, which corresponded to the ratio of the then monetary units (1 sou = 1/20 livre, 1 denier = 1/12 sou). Each category corresponded to a wheel with a specific number of teeth.
During his short life, Blaise Pascal, who lived only 39 years, managed to make about fifty calculating machines from a wide variety of materials: copper, various types of wood, ivory. The scientist presented one of them to Chancellor Seguier (Pier Seguier, 1588-1672), sold some models, and demonstrated some during lectures on the latest achievements of mathematical science. 8 copies have survived to this day.
It was Pascal who owned the first patent for the Pascal Wheel, issued to him in 1649 by the French king. As a sign of respect for his achievements in the field of “computational science,” one of the modern programming languages is named Pascal.
Modernizers
It is quite clear that the “Pascal Wheel” prompted inventors to improve the adding machine. A very original solution was proposed by Claude Perrault (1613-1688), brother of the world-famous storyteller, who was a man of broad interests and unique abilities: doctor, architect, physicist, naturalist, translator, archaeologist, designer, mechanic and poet. The creative heritage of Claude Perrault contains drawings of a summing machine dated 1670, in which racks with teeth are used instead of wheels. When moving forward, they rotate the total counter.
The next design word - and what a one! - said Gottfried Leibniz (Gottfried Leibniz, 1646-1716), the enumeration of whose merits and activities can be replaced with two succinct words “great thinker”. He did so much in mathematics that the “father of cybernetics” Norbert Wiener (Norbert Wiener, 1894-1964) proposed to canonize the German scientist and “appoint” him as a patron saint of the creators of computers.
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In the 17th century, of course, there could be no talk of mass production of Leibniz's adding machines. However, not so few of them were released. For example, one of the models went to Peter I. The Russian Tsar disposed of the mathematical machine in a very unique way: he gave it to the Chinese Emperor for diplomatic purposes.
A review of constructive ideas related to the improvement of mechanical calculating machines would be incomplete without mentioning the Italian mathematician Giovanni Poleni (1683-1761). He began his scientific career as a professor of astronomy at the University of Padua. Then he moved to the Department of Physics. And soon he headed the department of mathematics, replacing Nicholas Bernoulli (1695-1726) in this post. His hobbies included architecture, archeology and designing ingenious mechanisms. In 1709, Poleny demonstrated an adding machine that used the progressive principle of the "variable-toothed gear." It also used a fundamental innovation: the machine was driven by the force of a falling load tied to the free end of a rope. This was the first attempt in the history of arithmometer construction to replace a manual drive with an external source of energy.
And in the 1820s, the English mathematician Charles Babbage (1791-1871) invented the Difference Engine and began building it. During Babbage's lifetime, this apparatus was never built, but, more importantly, when funding for the project dried up, the mathematician came up with the "Analytical Engine" for general calculations, and for the first time formalized and described the logic of... a computer. But, however, this is a slightly different story.
Large-scale producers
In the 19th century, when the technology of precision metal processing achieved significant success, it became possible to introduce an adding machine into a wide variety of areas of human activity, in which, as they now say, it is necessary to process large amounts of data. The pioneer of serial production of calculating machines was the Alsatian Charles-Xavier Thomas de Colmar (1785-1870). Having introduced a number of operational improvements to Leibniz’s model, in 1821 he began producing 16-digit adding machines in his Paris workshop, which became known as “Thomas machines.” At first they were not cheap - 400 francs. And they were produced in not so large quantities - up to 100 copies per year. But by the end of the century, new manufacturers appear, competition arises, prices go down, and the number of buyers increases.
Various designers, both in the Old and New Worlds, patent their models, which differ from the classical Leibniz model only by introducing additional ease of use. A bell appears indicating errors such as subtracting a larger number from a smaller number. The typesetting levers are replaced with keys. A handle is attached to carry the adding machine from place to place. Ergonomic performance increases. The design is being improved.
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In 1875, Odhner designed his first adding machine, the production rights of which he transferred to the Ludwig Nobel engineering plant. 15 years later, having become the owner of the workshop, Vilgodt Teofilovich launched the production of a new model of adding machine in St. Petersburg, which compares favorably with the calculating machines that existed at that time in its compactness, reliability, ease of use and high productivity.
Three years later, the workshop becomes a powerful plant, producing more than 5 thousand adding machines per year. A product with the mark “V. T. Odner Mechanical Plant, St. Petersburg” begins to gain worldwide popularity, it is awarded the highest awards at industrial exhibitions in Chicago, Brussels, Stockholm, and Paris. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Odhner adding machine began to dominate the world market.
After the sudden death of the “Russian Bill Gates” in 1905, Odner’s work was continued by his relatives and friends. The revolution put an end to the company’s glorious history: V.T. Mechanical Plant. Odner was converted into a repair plant.
However, in the mid-1920s, the production of adding machines in Russia was revived. The most popular model, called “Felix”, was produced at the plant named after. Dzerzhinsky until the end of the 1960s. In parallel with the Felix, the Soviet Union launched the production of electromechanical calculating machines of the VK series, in which muscular efforts were replaced by an electric drive. This type computers was created in the image and likeness of the German Mercedes car. Electromechanical machines had significantly higher productivity compared to adding machines. However, the roar they created was like machine gun fire. If about two dozen Mercedes were working in the operating room, then in terms of noise it was reminiscent of a fierce battle.
In the 1970s, when electronic calculators began to appear - first tube, then transistor - all the mechanical splendor described above began to rapidly move to museums, where it remains today.
(from the Greek αριθμός - “number”, “counting” and the Greek μέτρον - “measure”, “meter”) - a desktop (or portable) mechanical computing machine designed for accurate multiplication and division, as well as for addition and subtraction.
Desktop or portable: Most often, adding machines were desktop or “knee-mounted” (like modern laptops); occasionally there were pocket models (Curta). This distinguished them from large floor-standing computers such as tabulators (T-5M) or mechanical computers (Z-1, Charles Babbage's Difference Engine).
Mechanical: Numbers are entered into the adding machine, converted and transmitted to the user (displayed in counter windows or printed on tape) using only mechanical devices. In this case, the adding machine can use exclusively a mechanical drive (that is, to work on them you need to constantly turn the handle. This primitive option is used, for example, in “Felix”) or perform part of the operations using an electric motor (The most advanced adding machines are computers, for example “Facit CA1-13", almost any operation uses an electric motor).
Precise calculation: Adding machines are digital (not analog, such as a slide rule) devices. Therefore, the calculation result does not depend on the reading error and is absolutely accurate.
Multiplication and Division: Arithmometers are designed primarily for multiplication and division. Therefore, almost all adding machines have a device that displays the number of additions and subtractions - a revolution counter (since multiplication and division are most often implemented as sequential addition and subtraction; for more details, see below).
Addition and Subtraction: Adding machines can perform addition and subtraction. But on primitive lever models (for example, on the Felix) these operations are performed very slowly - faster than multiplication and division, but noticeably slower than on the simplest adding machines or even manually.
Not programmable: When working on an adding machine, the order of actions is always set manually - immediately before each operation, you must press the corresponding key or turn the corresponding lever. This feature of the adding machine is not included in the definition, since there were practically no programmable analogues of adding machines.
Story
Approximately 5th - 6th century BC.
The appearance of the abacus (Egypt, Babylon)
Around 6th century AD
Chinese abacus appears.
1623
The first calculating machine (Germany, Wilhelm Schickard). It consists of separate devices - summing, multiplying and recording. Almost nothing was known about this device until 1957, so it did not have a significant impact on the development of computer engineering.
1642
Blaise Pascal's eight-bit adding machine. Unlike Schiccard's machine, Pascal's machine became relatively widely known in Europe and until recently was considered the first calculating machine in the world. In total, several dozen cars were produced.
1672 - 1694
The first adding machine was created (Gottfried Leibniz, Germany). In 1672, a two-bit machine appeared, and in 1694, a twelve-bit machine. Leibniz’s invention is extremely important from a theoretical point of view (firstly, he created the standard architecture of the adding machine, which was used until the 1970s; secondly, he created the “Leibniz roller”, on the basis of which the Thomas adding machine was made), but it was not widely used in practice. received because it was too complicated and expensive for its time.
1820
The first serial commercial adding machine, that is, used not for demonstration to the scientific community, but for sale and subsequent use in practice. (produced by K. S. K. Thomas). In general, this adding machine was similar to the Leibniz adding machine, but had a number of design differences. Similar machines were produced until the 1920s, and a similar design equipped with a keyboard was produced until the 1970s.
A typical example of a Thomas lever adding machine is the one shown on the Bunzel-Delton website.
1846
Kummer's calculator (Russian Empire, Poland). It is similar to the Slonimsky machine (1842, Russian Empire), but more compact. It was widely used throughout the world until the 1970s as a cheap pocket-sized abacus.
1873 - 1890
Odhner's adding machine (1873 - experimental model, 1890 - start of mass production). Odhner's adding machines were produced virtually unchanged until the 1970s (perhaps even until the 1980s).
A typical Odhner adding machine is the Felix - the most common Soviet adding machine.
1876 - 1881
Chebyshev's adding machine (1876 - adding machine, 1881 - multiplying and dividing prefix). Chebyshev's adding machine was the first to implement automatic multiplication by the method of sequential addition and carriage movement, as well as a highly reliable method of transmitting tens using a planetary mechanism. However, this adding machine was not widely used because it was inconvenient to use.
1885
Burroughs (USA, W. Burroughs) The first two-period adding machine with full-key input and a printing device.
1887
Comptometr (USA, Dorra Felt) - the first serial one-period summing full-key machine. Comptometers were produced with minor changes until the 1960s (1970s?) They were poorly suited for subtraction, multiplication and division, but adding not very long numbers was faster on them than on any other machines (including, probably, modern calculators).
1893
Millionaire is the first (and possibly only) mass-produced multiplying machine. For multiplication, I used “multiplication table” plates; multiplication by any number was done with one turn of the handle. Multiplying machines were produced until the 1930s, then they were supplanted by more convenient and universal (albeit slower) computing machines.
1910 (according to some sources - 1905)
Mercedes-Euklid (Mercedes-Euclid), model I, Germany - the first adding machine with a transfer device based on the "proportional rack" principle. Machines on proportional racks are characterized by reliable transfer, the ability to operate at high speeds and low noise levels during operation (if other devices also operate quietly). It is on this principle that the fastest adding machines are built - Marchant Silent Speed (Merchant).
At the same time, Mercedes-Euklid (Mercedes-Euclid), model I" is the first (or at least one of the first) adding machines with semi-automatic division (the machine is capable of automatically calculating the current digit of the quotient).
1913
Mercedes-Euklid (Mercedes-Euclid), model IV, Germany - apparently the first widespread adding machine with a full-key keyboard. The first full-key adding machine was released by Monroe (1911), but it actually entered the market only in 1914.
MADAS (Acronym: Multiplication, Automatic Division, Addition, and Subtraction) is the first adding machine with fully automatic division. Perhaps it was released not in 1913, but in 1908.
1919
Mercedes-Euklid (Mercedes-Euclid), model VII, Germany - apparently the world's first automatic computer.
1925
Hamann Manus, mod. A (Hamann Manus, Germany) - the appearance of adding machines based on a wheel with a switching latch. These adding machines were complex, but the mass of their rotating parts was small, so they could work at relatively high speeds.
1932
Facit T (Facit T, Sweden) is the world's first adding machine with a ten-key keyboard. A ten-key keyboard is smaller than a full-key keyboard, but it is more complex in design and works slower. Subsequently, based on the Facit TK model, the widespread Soviet adding machine VK-1 was released.
1950s
The rise of computers and semi-automatic adding machines. It was at this time that most of the models of electric computers were released.
1962 - 1964
The appearance of the first electronic calculators (1962 - experimental series ANITA MK VII (England), by the end of 1964 electronic calculators were produced by many developed countries, including the USSR (VEGA KZSM)). A fierce competition begins between electronic calculators and the most powerful computers. But the appearance of calculators had almost no effect on the production of small and cheap adding machines (mostly non-automatic and manually driven).
1968
Production of Contex-55 began, probably the latest model of adding machines with a high degree of automation.
1969
Peak production of adding machines in the USSR. About 300 thousand Felixes and VK-1s were produced.
1978
Around this time, production of Felix-M adding machines was discontinued. This may have been the last type of adding machine produced in the world.