Everyone had to use a calculator. It has already become an ordinary subject, not surprising. But what is the story of its development? Who invented the calculator first? What did the medieval device look and function?
Ancient computing
With the onset of trade and exchange, people began to feel the need for an account. For this purpose they used fingers and toes, grains, stones. Around 500 BC e. first scores appeared. The abacuses looked like a flat board on which small objects were laid out in the grooves. Distribution received this type of calculus in Greece and Rome.
The Chinese used 5, not 10 as the basis of the count. Xuan-pan is a rectangular frame for calculations on which the threads are vertically stretched. The design was conditionally divided into 2 parts - the lower "Earth" and the upper "Sky". The lower balls were units, and the upper ones were dozens.
The Slavs followed in the footsteps of their eastern neighbors, only a few changed the device. A board counting device appeared in the 15th century. The difference from the Chinese suan-pan is that the ropes were placed horizontally, and the decimal system was used.
First mechanical device
Wilhelm Schikkard, a German mathematician and astronomer, in 1623 was able to realize his dream and became the author of a device based on a clockwork. Counting clocks could perform simple mathematical operations. But since the device was complex and large, it was not widely used. Johann Keppler became the first user of the mechanism, although he believed that calculations were easier to carry out in the mind. From this moment, the history of the calculator begins, and transformations in the design and functions of the device will gradually lead it to a modern form.
After 20 years, the French physicist and philosopher Pascal proposed a device that calculates by means of gears. To perform addition or subtraction, it was necessary to turn the wheel the required number of times.
In 1673, the device advanced by the German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz became the first calculator - later the name became fixed in history. With it, it became possible to perform multiplication and division. However, the cost of the mechanism was high, so making the device available for use was impossible.
Mass production
It was known for a long time about who invented the calculator - Peter I even acquired the Leibniz mechanism. His ideas were used by Wagner and Levin. After the death of the inventor, Burkhardt built a similar device, Muller and Knutzen were engaged in further improvements.
For commercial purposes, the device began to be used by the Frenchman Charles Xavier Tom de Colmar. The entrepreneur organized the serial production in 1820, his car almost did not differ from the first calculator. Who invented it from these two scientists, there was debate, the Frenchman was even accused of misappropriating someone else's achievement, but the design of the calculating machine at Colmar was still different.
In tsarist Russia, the first arithmometer is the result of the work of the scientist Chernyshov. He created the device in the 50s of the XIX century, but the name was patented in 1873 by Frank Baldwin. The principle of operation of a mechanical calculating machine is based on cylinders and gears.
At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, mass production of calculators began in Russia. In the Soviet Union, a device called "Felix" gained distribution in the 30s of the last century and was used until the end of the 70s.
Electronic calculators
The first electronic calculator was invented by the Cassio brothers. In 1957, the era of rapid development in the computer industry began. The Casio 14-A device weighed as much as 140 kg, had an electric relay and 10 buttons. The numbers were displayed and the result was displayed. By 1965, the weight had decreased to 17 kg.
The domestic electronic calculator is a merit of the scientists of the Leningrad University, who developed it in 1961. The EKVM-1 model entered the industrial production already in 1964. After three years the device was improved, it could work with trigonometric functions. The engineering calculator was first invented by Hewlett Packard in 1972.
The next stage of development is microcircuits. Who invented calculators of this generation in the USSR? The development involved 27 engineers. They spent about 15 years until the engineering calculator Electronics B3-18 entered the market in 1975. Square roots, degrees, logarithms and a transistor microprocessor have won popular recognition, but the cost of the device was 200 rubles and not everyone could afford it.
A breakthrough in Soviet technology was the VZ-34 calculator. At a cost of 85 rubles, he became the first domestic home computer. The software allowed to install not only engineering, but also game programs.
A masterpiece of the last century was the MK-90. At that time, the device had no analogues: a graphic display, non-volatile RAM and basic programming.