An old engraving showing three Arithmometers (the first digital mechanical office calculators) in the latter half of the 1800s. It is from a Victorian book of the 1880s. The calculator could add and subtract two numbers and perform multiplication and division by a movable accumulator. Left is one with numbered disks with cogs that can be rotated by hand. The result appeared in a slit in the casing. Centre is similar but operated using levers. The compact Arithmometer (right) has overlying disks of varying diameter. When rotated the calculation can be read on a dial.
An old engraving showing three types of Arithmometer in the latter half of the 1800s. It is from a Victorian mechanical engineering book of the 1880s. The Arithmometer (or Arithmomètre) was the first digital mechanical calculator. This calculator could add and subtract two numbers directly and could perform long multiplications and divisions effectively by using a movable accumulator for the result. The first commercially successful mechanical calculator was patented in France by Thomas de Colmar in 1820 and manufactured from 1851. The type shown left has numbered disks with cogs that can be rotated by hand. The calculation result appeared in a slit in the casing. Centre is a similar machine operated using levers. The compact Arithmometer (right) has disks of varying diameter overlaying each other. When rotated any calculation can be read on a dial. In the latter half of the 19th century the arithmometer was sold all over the world. It was strong and reliable enough to be used daily in the office environment.
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