The first arithmometers that appeared at the end of the 19th century laid the foundation for a whole branch of industry — mathematical engineering. Their creators were the French entrepreneur Tom de Colmar and the Russian inventor of Swedish origin Wilgold Teofilovich Odner. However, it is believed that the Odner arithmometer is the prototype of all subsequent devices of this type.
Young Swede in Russian Service
Wilgold Teofilovich Odner - a native of the Swedish city of Dalby. He was born in 1845, and, having reached the age of 24, he moved to St. Petersburg, where he spent the rest of his life. He worked at an enterprise engaged in the manufacture of various government securities - banknotes, letterheads, award sheets, etc.
This was a special enterprise because, in addition to its main function, it was the responsibility of its employees to identify and suppress fakes produced by clandestine manufacturers. At this work, the young Swede proved himself to be an outstanding creative person. Suffice it to say that Odner invented his arithmometer for accounting for credit tickets issued at his site, since earlier this process took too much time and often led to errors.
Repair completed by invention
Work on the glorified invention Obner began not from scratch. Long before him, the Frenchman Tom de Kalmar (photo above) created the first mechanical calculating machine, the repair of which led the young Swede to an idea that allowed him to carry out his own project in 1873. This date is considered to be the year of birth of his unique device.
In the year the arithmometer was created, Odner received an order from Ludwig Nobel for the manufacture of 14 copies, which served as an excellent advertisement, since the name of the creator of dynamite was widely known throughout the world. After some time, the inventor improved his brainchild and patented it in several countries.
It is curious that the unit subsequently replicated by multimillion-dollar parties and held out on the world market until the middle of the 20th century did not undergo constructive changes. In Soviet times, it was produced under the Felix trademark, but, in fact, it was the same Odner arithmometer. Older people remember him well.
A masterpiece of technical thought
The Odner mechanical arithmometer has demonstrated such amazing survivability due to a number of its positive qualities, among which, first of all, its reliability in operation and the correctness of the issued result, provided that all the proper operating rules are observed.
In addition, simplicity of construction played an important role, which made it possible to carry out repairs without much difficulty if necessary. To work with him, some special skills were not required, training took a little time, and everyone could use this device. Finally, its dimensions were very attractive, amounting to only 5 x 7 inches, which in the metric system corresponds to 12.7 x 17.7 cm.
Forced step
The success was complete, since neither in the year when V.T. Odner invented the arithmometer, nor in the following decades did world technical thought give rise to anything like this. However, as it often happened, the ingenious designer could not arrange the mass production of his brainchild due to lack of funds.
Finding no other solution to the problem, he was forced to transfer the rights to his invention to the company Königsberg & Co., which released his first mass batch. Only a few specimens have survived to this day, each of which is a museum rarity and costs more than most modern computers.
Universal recognition
The sale of property rights to the invention was a forced decision and subsequently caused a lot of trouble. Only in the beginning of the 90s did the author manage to get a legitimate opportunity to produce arithmometers under his own brand and get full profit from them. By this time, the Odner arithmometer was known far beyond the borders of Russia and was in constant demand.
The success was finally consolidated in 1893, when the counting apparatus received the highest award at the World Technical Exhibition held in Chicago, and then became the winner of two more prestigious expositions, one of which was deployed in Nizhny Novgorod and the other in Brussels. In both cases, the inventor received a gold medal.
In 1907, Odner became the sole owner of the enterprise for the production of arithmometers and received the right to put his own brand on them. The company involved in their sale was finally determined. She became the "Trading House of Emanuel Mitenz." When in 1905, an outstanding inventor died of a heart attack, his work was continued by the heirs, among whom there were many talented entrepreneurs.
During the years of Soviet rule
Since the time when Odner invented the arithmometer, and then proceeded to its serial production, most of the products were manufactured in Russia and only a few of its batches were manufactured at foreign enterprises.
This tradition has been preserved during the years of Soviet rule. After the victory of the Bolsheviks, the Odner Petrograd enterprise continued to operate for another seven years, but then it was transferred to Moscow and renamed the Dzerzhinsky Plant. The trademark under which the arithmometers went on sale has changed since then. From now on they were called “Felix”, “Dynamo”, and somewhat later “Union”.
Afterword
Concluding the story about Wilgold Teofilovich Odner and his amazing brainchild, we should also mention his other inventions, although they did not bring great fame to the author, but, nevertheless, firmly entered modern life. Thanks to his creative thought, mankind has received such seemingly unconnected things as turnstiles, ballot boxes and even tissue paper in the form in which it is used to this day.