Many students ask this age-old question, “What was the first calculator?” It’s a good one to ask, because knowing what the first calculator was can help us with our school work today. We can learn about all the wonderful new features that have been added over the years. And at the same time, we can get a glimpse into the history of one of the most influential and important devices ever created.
It is commonly said that the first calculator was invented in 1880 at the University of Edinburgh by John Pilsworth. He used a piece of stone to calculate the circumference of the earth and then plugged this value into a device he called a primitive calculator.
This primitive calculator did not have any programming because it depended on the skills of the person using it. However, he was able to create a more useful tool when he realized that if he put two numbers side by side and squeezed them, they would be proportional to each other.
This was the first calculator to have the capacity to add, subtract and divide. Some say that before him, calculators had been only capable of division by sixteen, but he would eventually create a calculator with thirty-two different divisions.
Some say that after his death, another teacher, Sir Alfred Wallace, modified his previous creation and made it more reliable by adding a storage facility for storing calculations. In time, this calculator was named after Mr. Wallace himself.
There are many theories as to how this remarkable invention became part of everyday life. One of the most likely theories is that he may have needed it for his studies. As time went on, other scientists and educators would use this machine to help them study. Some say that he may have also designed the first digital calculator which is still in use today.
The name “what was the first calculator” seems to be a bit confusing. Some say that it was the one he accidentally left behind while teaching his class, and when he got caught, he decided to give everyone one so that they would remember him and what he had created.
Others say that it was actually named after him when he saw it being used in a hotel because it reminded him of his lab. Regardless, of who came up with the name, the first calculator to be designed was no other than the George calculator.
This calculator has a great reputation as being the calculator that invented the dot-com revolution. It can be credited with creating the first online calculator which allowed students all over the world to compute for school purposes and learn the concepts behind math.
Today, this model of calculator is widely used in schools, colleges, and businesses alike. This model is also well known for being one of the earliest digital calculators. This model was capable of storing enormous amounts of information, was simple to operate, and had a back-lit display, which gave very accurate readings.
The first calculator was so vastly different from the models that we are familiar with today that many people believe it to be a much older model that we might not even have heard of had it not been for this one. It is possible that the first calculator we have in our homes right now was in fact made forty years ago.
And if you happened to know where to look, you could have it tucked away in some closet in your basement right now. But the interesting part about this is that this could very well be the very first calculator that could store information that was critical to scientists and inventors alike.
Today, it takes us decades just to figure out all the mathematical concepts that we use every day. What was the first calculator is something that has baffled scientists and engineers for decades now and has still not given up any answers.
For those who are looking for this type of information, there is a good chance that the project will never be complete.
For those who want to learn more about this wonderful device, there are actually several good sites on the Internet that can tell you more about this fascinating little invention.
Conclusion
What was the first calculator? This is a question that has occupied the minds of countless students, professionals, and others with an interest in the history of the humble calculator. The history of the calculator dates back to the 6th century and can be traced through to the development of what we call today calculators.
In this article, we will look at some of the more interesting history of the calculator. What was the first calculator?
The earliest calculator would have been nothing more than a lump of wood with a metal wedge between two compartments. This would have contained a circuit board and a couple of compartments with levers that were able to change the value you were looking at from either zero or one.
You would place your hands in the compartments, and if your hands were quick enough, you could push the levers in either direction to alter the value. This basic design was refined slightly in the 800s, when two small wheels were added that would rotate a few times during each calculating cycle.
This would allow more flexibility, but it would still only be able to perform basic arithmetic. After this minor refinement, the first calculator would become even more basic and could perform basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
What was the first calculator to actually run off of the main battery of the device? This was actually achieved by German scientists during World War II. They had invented what was referred to as a Somnophone, which was essentially a computer that would send out sound vibrations as a result of the turning of the gears.
These gears would then vibrate in response to the actual key pressed, which would then turn the actual calculator. As you can imagine, this was a very advanced form of technology, but it was not long before other electronics manufacturers would catch on to this concept and begin producing calculators that using an internal battery.
In the early part of the twentieth century, there were not many calculators available to the common public. The majority of these were rather large, difficult to handle, and very complicated to use.
However, with the onset of the Second World War, the Red Army, and other such military organizations, began creating electronic calculators for use by the general public.
\As it became more readily available to the public, the sales of what was the first calculator quickly increased. This led to the further refinement of such devices, making them even easier to use and more reliable.
What was the first calculator to have an LCD display? In order to see the actual numbers being used in calculations, a lot of calculators of the time did not have LCD displays.
This would have been extremely frustrating, because the numbers that one was entering into the calculator would often look nothing like the output that they would see if they could see the actual numbers. In an effort to solve this problem, various manufactures began producing calculators that included Liquid Crystal Display units, or LCD displays.
What was the first calculator made to allow one to input their own data and run some calculations? This happened with the calculator that was made in 1957, by John Pilsworth. He had discovered the effect that adding two terms together had on the overall result of a calculation.
His curiosity and desire to share this new idea with the world led him to develop what we know today as the calculus calculator. He not only made this calculator more widely available, but he also made it much more useful to the everyday person. While calculators are still used extensively around the world, many new and innovative models have been introduced over the years.
