Blaise Pascal is known for a number of things, but we remember him best for the Pascaline, an early mechanical calculator. [Chris Staecker] got a chance to take a close look at one, which is quite a feat since there were only about 20 made, and today we only know where nine of them wound up.
This Pascaline was lost for many years, and turned up in an antique store, where they thought it was a music box of some kind. The recent owner passed away, and now this machine is going to go up for auction, probably for more than we can afford. While he wasn’t able to handle the antique, he has plenty of knock-offs that were made back when people actually used them, which wasn’t that long ago. One of these is transparent, so you can see the mechanism inside.
The idea is to use the wheels like an old-fashioned phone dial to add counts to an output wheel. A linkage moves the next input wheel every time the current output wheel passes nine. Of course, if you have a multi-digit carry, it might take a little more elbow grease than just flipping the dial one normal position.
The Pascaline could subtract, too, but modern versions use a more efficient method. Pascal was worried about the extra elbow grease required to push the carry, and the Pascaline actually stored energy to drive the carry mechanism. Pretty forward-thinking for someone building the very first mechanical calculator.
This Pascaline was unusual because it was made for surveying and used old French units. If it were made today, for example, it would have inch wheels that would carry a foot when they went past 11.
What a beautiful machine. You’d like to think that if you lived in the 1650s, you’d dream up this machine. But, to be honest, we probably wouldn’t. We can’t say anything about you.
We’ve seen Pascaline machines before, of course. While we love complex mechanical computers, there’s a certain charm to the simple ones, too.
carry … when they went past 11.
But this one, the numbers go to eleven. This isn’t a Pascaline, it’s a Tufneline!
Yeah, but the sustain, listen to it
Grandfather of the Curta
I have two Curtas :-)
Wasn’t that “Antikythera mechanism the first mechanical calculator we know of?
Sure it was specialized, but it calculated the position of things in the sky they think right? Or is that not considered calculation? I mean I can understand if it doesn’t count (pardon the pun) since it’s just gears basically. But then, so are all mechanical calculators.
Wikipedia says: There is speculation that a portion of the mechanism is missing and it calculated the positions of the five classical planets.
And the device is described as: astronomical calculator.
For some reason when I try to use quotation marks on HaD it behaves very oddly, either not showing them or showing two at the end instead of one at the start and one at the end. So here goes nothing
Antikythera can be counted as mechanical analog machine, Pascalina as mechanical digital machine. And yes, it is possible to cut the hair along the length:)
Funny, I had never heard of the Pascaline, but I have very definitely heard of Pascal’s Wager. And this is with a tech rather than liberal arts background.
“If it were made today, for example, it would have inch wheels that would carry a foot when they went past 11”
As far as I know, France still belongs to the metric world, and has small intentions to change this ;-)
Not voluntarily anyway.
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