The history of the development of such a computing mechanism as a calculator begins in the 17th century, and the first prototypes of this apparatus existed in the 6th century BC. The word “calculator” itself comes from the Latin “calculo”, which means “I count”, “I count”. But a more detailed study of the etymology of this concept shows that initially we should talk about the word "calculus", which translates as "pebble". After all, initially it was pebbles that were used as an attribute for counting.
The calculator is one of the simplest and most frequently used mechanisms in everyday life, but this invention has a long history and valuable experience for the development of science.
Antikythera mechanism
The first prototype of the calculator is considered to be the Antikythera Mechanism, which was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century near the island of Antikythera on a sunken ship that belonged to Italy. Scientists believe that the mechanism can be dated to the second century BC.
The device was intended to calculate the movement of planets and satellites. The Antikythera Mechanism could also add, subtract, and divide.
Abacus
While trade relations between Asia and Europe began to improve, the need for various accounting operations became more and more. That is why in the VI century the first prototype of the calculating machine was invented - Abacus.
An abacus is a small wooden board with grooves on it. In these small recesses most often lay pebbles or tokens denoting numbers.
The mechanism worked on the principle of the Babylonian account, which was based on the sexagesimal system. Any digit of the number consisted of 60 units and, based on where the number was located, each groove corresponded to the number of units, tens, etc. Due to the fact that it was rather inconvenient to keep 60 pebbles in each recess, the recesses were divided into 2 parts: in one - pebbles, denoting tens (no more than 5), in the second - pebbles, denoting units (no more than 9) . At the same time, in the first compartment, the pebbles corresponded to units, in the second compartment - to tens, etc. If in one of the grooves the number required during the operation exceeded the number 59, then one of the stones was transferred to the next row.
The abacus was popular until the 18th century and had many modifications.
Calculating machine Leonardo da Vinci
In the diaries of Leonardo da Vinci, one could see the drawings of the first calculating machine, which were called the "Madrid Code".
The device consisted of several rods with wheels of different sizes. Each wheel had teeth at its base, thanks to which the mechanism could work. Ten rotations of the first axis resulted in one rotation of the second, and ten rotations of the second axis resulted in one full rotation of the third.
Most likely, during his lifetime, Leonardo was never able to transfer his ideas to the material world, so it is generally accepted that in the second half of the 19th century the first model of a calculating machine appeared, created by Dr. Roberto Guatelli.
Napier's sticks
Scottish researcher John Napier in one of his books, published in 1617, outlined the principle of multiplication using wooden sticks. Soon a similar method was called Napier's sticks. This mechanism was based on the then popular method of lattice multiplication.
Napier's sticks are a set of wooden sticks, most of which were marked with a multiplication table, as well as one stick marked with numbers from one to nine.
In order to perform the multiplication operation, it was necessary to lay out the sticks that would correspond to the value of the digit of the multiplicand, and the top row of each plank had to form the multiplier. In each line, the numbers were summed up, and then the result after the operation was added up.
Shikkard's Computing Clock
More than 150 years have passed since Leonardo da Vinci invented his calculating machine, when the German professor Wilhelm Schickard wrote about his invention in one of his letters to Johannes Kepler in 1623. According to Shikkard, the apparatus could perform addition and subtraction, as well as multiplication and division.
This invention went down in history as one of the prototypes of the calculator, and it received the name "mechanical watch" because of the principle of operation of the mechanism, which was based on the use of stars and gears.
Shikkard's calculating clock is the first mechanical device that could perform 4 arithmetic operations.
Two copies of the device burned down during a fire, and the drawings of their creator were found only in 1935.
Blaise Pascal's calculating machine
In 1642, Blaise Pascal began developing a new calculating machine at the age of 19. Pascal's father, collecting taxes, was forced to deal with constant calculations, so his son decided to create an apparatus that could facilitate such work.
Blaise Pascal's Calculating Machine is a small box containing many gears connected to each other. The numbers needed to perform any of the four arithmetic operations were entered using the turns of the wheels, which corresponded to the decimal place of the number.
Within 10 years, Pascal was able to design about 50 machines, 10 of which he sold.
Kalmar adding machine
In the first half of the 19th century, Thomas de Kalmar created the first commercial device that could perform four arithmetic operations. The adding machine was created on the basis of the mechanism of Kalmar's predecessor, Wilhelm Leibniz. Having managed to improve an already existing apparatus, Kalmar called his invention "arithmometer".
Kalmar's adding machine is a small iron or wooden mechanism, inside of which there is an automated counter, with which you can perform four arithmetic operations. It was a device that was superior to a number of already existing models, since it could work with thirty-digit numbers.
Arithmometers 19-20 century
After mankind realized that computer technology greatly simplifies the work with numbers, in the 19-20 centuries, many inventions appeared related to counting mechanisms. The most popular device during this period was the adding machine.
Kalmar Adding Machine: Invented in 1820, the first commercial machine to perform 4 arithmetic operations.
Chernyshev adding machine: the first adding machine that appeared in Russia was invented in the 50s of the 19th century.
One of the most popular arithmometers of the 20th century, Odner's adding machine appeared in 1877.
Adding machine Mercedes-Euklid VI: the first adding machine capable of performing four arithmetic operations without human assistance, invented in 1919.
Calculators in the 21st century
Nowadays, calculators play a significant role in all spheres of life: from professional to household. These computing devices have replaced the abacus and abacus for mankind, which were popular in their time.
Based on the target audience and characteristics, calculators are divided into simple, engineering, accounting and financial. There are also programmable calculators that can be placed in a separate class. They can work with complex programs that are pre-embedded in the movement itself. To work with graphs, you can use a graphing calculator.
Also, classifying calculators by design, they distinguish between compact and desktop types.
The history of counting technology is a process of acquiring experience and knowledge by mankind, as a result of which counting mechanisms could harmoniously fit into human life.
22/09/98)
This article is devoted to irreplaceable assistants in our life - microcalculators. The history of the emergence of Soviet microcalculators, their features and interesting features of individual models are described.
FIRST COMPUTERS
The first mechanical device in Russia to automate calculations was the abacus. This "folk calculator" lasted in the workplace of cashiers in stores until the mid-nineties. It is interesting to note that in the 1986 textbook "Trading Calculations" an entire chapter is devoted to methods of calculation on accounts.
Simultaneously with the accounts, in scientific circles, even from pre-revolutionary times, slide rulers were successfully used, which from the 17th century served "faithfully and truthfully" almost unchanged until the advent of calculators.
Trying to somehow automate the process of calculations, humanity begins to invent mechanical counting devices. Even the famous mathematician Chebyshev at the end of the 19th century proposed his own model of a calculator. Unfortunately, no images have been saved.
The most popular mechanical calculator in Soviet times was the Odner Felix adding machine. On the left - an image of an adding machine, taken from the "Small Soviet Encyclopedia" of 1932 edition.
On this adding machine it was possible to perform four arithmetic operations - addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. In later models, for example, "Felix-M", you can see the sliders for specifying the position of the comma and the lever for shifting the carriage. To perform calculations, it was necessary to turn the knob - once for addition or subtraction, and several times for multiplication and division.
Once, of course, you can turn the knob, and it’s even interesting, but what if you work as an accountant and you need to perform hundreds of simple operations in a day? Yes, and the noise from spinning counter gears is decent, especially if several people work in the room with adding machines at the same time.
However, over time, turning the knob began to bother, and the human mind invented electric calculating machines that performed arithmetic operations automatically or semi-automatically. On the right is an image of the VMM-2 multi-key computer, which was semi-polar in the 1950s (Commodity Dictionary, VIII volume, 1960). This model had nine digits and worked up to the 17th order. She had dimensions of 440x330x240 mm and a weight of 23 kilograms.
Yet science took its toll. In the post-war years, electronics began to develop rapidly and the first computers appeared - electronic computers (computers). By the beginning of the 1960s, a huge gap had formed in many respects between computers and the most powerful keyboard computers, despite the appearance of the Soviet Vilnius and Vyatka relay computers (1961). 
But by that time, one of the world's first desktop keyboard computers had already been designed at the Leningrad University, which used small-sized semiconductor elements and ferrite cores. A working model of this EKVM, an electronic keyboard computer, was also made.
In general, it is believed that the first mass electronic calculator appeared in England in 1963. His circuit was made on printed circuit boards and contained several thousand transistors alone. The size of such a calculator was like that of a typewriter, and it performed only arithmetic operations with multi-digit numbers. On the left is the "Electronics" calculator, a typical representative of this generation of calculators.
The distribution of desktop computers began in 1964, when serial production of the Vega computer was mastered in our country and the production of desktop computers began in a number of other countries. In 1967, the EDVM-11 (electronic ten-key computer) appeared - the first computer in our country that automatically calculated trigonometric functions.
Further development of computer technology is inextricably linked with the achievements of microelectronics. At the end of the 50s, a technology was developed for the production of integrated circuits containing groups of interconnected electronic elements, and already in 1961 the first computer model on integrated circuits appeared, which was 48 times smaller in mass and 150 times smaller in volume than semiconductor computers that perform the same functions. In 1965, the first computers based on integrated circuits appeared. Approximately at the same time, the first portable computers based on LSIs (just introduced into production) with autonomous power from built-in batteries appeared. In 1971, the dimensions of the ECVM became "pocket", in 1972, EMC of a scientific and technical type appeared with subroutines for calculating elementary functions, additional memory registers and with the representation of numbers both in natural form and in floating point form in the widest range numbers.
The development of EKVM production in our country went in parallel with its development in other most industrialized countries of the world. In 1970, the first samples of ECVMs based on ICs appeared, since 1971, the production of machines of the Iskra series began on these elements. In 1972, the first domestic microcomputers based on LSIs began to be produced.
THE FIRST SOVIET POCKET CALCULATOR
The first Soviet desktop calculators, which appeared in 1971, quickly gained popularity. LSI-based computers operated quietly, consumed little power, and calculated quickly and accurately. The cost of microcircuits was rapidly declining, and one could think of creating a pocket-sized MK, the price of which would be affordable to the general consumer. 
In August 1973, the electronic industry of our country set the task of creating an electronic pocket computer based on a microprocessor LSI and with a liquid crystal indicator in one year. A group of 27 people worked on this most difficult task. There was a lot of work to be done: to make drawings, diagrams, etc. templates, consisting of 144 thousand points, to place a microprocessor with 3400 elements in a crystal measuring 5x5 mm.
After five months of work, the first samples of MK were ready, and nine months later, three months before the deadline, an electronic pocket calculator called "Electronics B3-04" was handed over to the state commission. Already at the beginning of 1974, the electronic gnome went on sale. It was a great labor victory that showed the possibilities of our electronics industry.
In this microcalculator, an indicator on liquid crystals was used for the first time, and the numbers were depicted as white characters on a black background (see Fig.).
The calculator was turned on by pressing the curtain, after which the lid was opened, and the calculator began to work.
The microcalculator had a very interesting algorithm of work. In order to calculate (20-8+7) it was necessary to press the keys | c | 20 | += | 8 | -= | 7 | += |. Result: 5. If the result is to be multiplied by, say, three, then the calculations can be continued by pressing the keys: | x | 3 | += |.
Key | K | used to calculate with a constant.
In this calculator, transparent boards with volumetric wiring were used. The figure shows part of the microcalculator board.
The microcalculator contains four microcircuits - a 23-bit shift register K145AP1, an indicator control device K145PP1, an operational register K145IP2 and a K145IP1 microprocessor. The voltage conversion unit uses a level conversion chip.
It is interesting to note that this calculator worked on one AA battery (A316 "Quantum", "Uranus").
THE FIRST SOVIET MICROCALCULATORS
In the early 70s, the language of working with microcalculators that is familiar today was only in its infancy. The first models of microcalculators in general could have their own language of work, and they had to learn to count on a calculator. Let's take, for example, the first calculator of the Leningrad plant "Svetlana" of the "C" series. This is the C3-07 calculator. By the way, it is worth noting that the calculators of the Svetlana factory generally stand apart.
A small digression. All microcalculators in those days received the general designation "B3" (the number three at the end, and not the letter "Z", as many believed). Desktop electronic clocks received the letters B2, electronic wristwatches - B5 (for example, B5-207), desktop electronic clocks with a vacuum indicator - B6, large wall clocks - B7 and so on. The letter "B" - "home appliances". Only the microcalculators of the Svetlanov factory received the letter "C" - Svetlana (LIGHT OF THE INCANDED LIGHT - for those who do not know).
So, let's take, for example, the C3-07 calculator. A very amazing calculator, especially its keyboard and display. As you can see from the picture, not only keys are combined on the calculator | += | and | -= |, but also multiply/divide | X -:- |. Try to guess for yourself how to multiply and divide on this calculator. Hint: the calculator does not accept two presses on the same key, only one is possible.
The answer is no less surprising: to produce, say, a multiplication of 2 by 3, you need to press the keys | 2 | X-:- | 3 | += |, and to divide 2 by 3, you must press the keys: | 2 | X-:- | 3 | -= |. Addition and subtraction is similar to the B3-04 calculator, that is, getting the difference 2 - 3 will be calculated as follows: | 2 | += | 3 | -= |. In some models of this calculator, you can also find an amazing eight-segment indicator.
Starting with this model of calculators, all simple calculators of the Svetlanov Plant operate with numbers with orders up to 10e16-1, even if eight or twelve digits fit on the display. If the result exceeds 8 or 12 digits (depending on the model), the comma disappears and the first 8 or 12 digits of the number appear on the display.
Speaking about the language of working with microcalculators of the first releases, one should also mention the B3-02, B3-05 and B3-05M calculators. These are milestones of the old "Iskra" type calculators. In these calculators, all digits of the indicator are constantly lit during calculations. Basically, of course, zeros. It is very inconvenient to find the first (and last) significant digit on such calculators. By the way, in the model C3-07, which was mentioned earlier, there was already an attempt to solve this problem, albeit in a somewhat unusual way - on this calculator, zero has half the height. So, these three calculators had a very inconvenient, but quite understandable feature for early calculators: the required accuracy of calculations is set when you enter the first number. That is, if it is necessary, say, to calculate the quotient of dividing 23 by 32 with an accuracy of three decimal places, then the number 23 must be entered with three decimal places: | 23,000 | -:- | 32 | = | (0.718). Until the operator presses the reset button, all subsequent calculations will be made with three decimal places, and the comma does not move anywhere else. This, by the way, is called "fixed point", and later calculators, in which the point is already moving around the display, were then called "floating point". Now, there have been changes in the terminology, as a result of which "floating point" is now called displaying a number with a mantissa on the left and an exponent on the right.
A year after the development of the first pocket microcalculator B3-04, new, more advanced models of pocket MK appeared. These are models B3-09M, B3-14 and B3-14M. These calculators were made on one K145IK2 processor chip and one phase generator chip. The B3-09M calculator is shown on the left, the B3-14M is made in the same case, and the B3-14 is on the right. 
On these models there was already a "standard" language for working on calculators, including calculations with a constant.
These calculators could already work both from the power supply and from four (B3-09M, B3-14M) or three (B3-14) AA elements.
Although these calculators are based on the same chip, they have different functionality. And in general, the "removal" of various functions was inherent in many models of Soviet microcalculators. For example, the B3-09M microcalculator did not have a sign for calculating the square root, B3-14M could not calculate percentages.
A feature of these simple calculators was that the comma occupied a separate place. This is very convenient for a cursory reading of information, but the last sign bit disappears. For the same calculators, before starting work, you must press the "C" key to clear the registers.
THE FIRST SOVIET ENGINEERING MICROCALCULATOR
The next huge step in the history of the development of microcalculators was the appearance of the first Soviet engineering microcalculator. At the end of 1975, the first engineering calculator B3-18 was created in the Soviet Union. As the journal "Science and Life" wrote on this occasion on 10, 1976 in the article "Fantastic Electronics": "... this calculator crossed the Rubicon of arithmetic, his mathematical education stepped into trigonometry and algebra. "Electronics B3-18" can instantly raise to square and extract the square root, raise in two steps to any power within eight digits, calculate reciprocals, calculate logarithms and antilogarithms, trigonometric functions ... "," ... when you see how a machine that just instantly added huge numbers, spends a few seconds to perform some algebraic or trigonometric operation, you involuntarily think about the big work that goes inside a small box before the result lights up on its indicator.
Indeed, a lot of work has been done. It was possible to fit 45,000 transistors, resistors, capacitors and conductors into a single crystal measuring 5 x 5.2 mm, that is, fifty TV sets of that time were stuffed into one cell of an arithmetic notebook! However, the price of such a calculator was considerable - 220 rubles in 1978. For example, an engineer after graduating from the institute at that time received 120 rubles a month. But the purchase was worth it. Now you don’t have to think about how not to knock down the slider slider, you don’t have to worry about the error, you can throw logarithm tables on the shelf.
By the way, the prefix function key "F" was used for the first time in this calculator.
Nevertheless, it was not possible to completely fit everything that we wanted into the K145IP7 chip of the B3-18 calculator. For example, when calculating functions that used the expansion in a Taylor series, the working register was cleared, as a result of which the previous result of the operation was erased. In this regard, it was impossible to make chain calculations, such as 5 + sin 2. To do this, you first had to get the sine of two, and then only add 5 to the result.
So, a lot of work has been done, a lot of effort has been spent, and as a result a good, but very expensive calculator has appeared. To make the calculator available to the mass segments of the population, it was decided to make a cheaper model based on the B3-18A calculator. In order not to reinvent the wheel, our engineers took the easiest path. They took and removed the "F" prefix function key from the calculator. The calculator turned into an ordinary one, was called "B3-25A" and became available to the general population. And only the developers and repairmen of calculators knew the secret of the B3-25A alteration.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF MICROCALCULATORS
Immediately after the B3-18 calculator, together with engineers from the GDR, the B3-19M microcalculator was released. In this calculator, the so-called "reverse Polish notation" was used. First, the first number is typed, then the key for entering the number on the stack is pressed, then the second number, and only after that - the required operation. The stack in the calculator consists of three registers - X, Y and Z. In the same calculator, for the first time, the input of the order of the number and the display of the number in floating point format (with mantissa and order) were used. The calculator used a 12-bit indicator on red light-emitting diodes.
In 1977, another very powerful engineering calculator appeared - C3-15. This calculator had increased calculation accuracy (up to 12 digits), worked with orders up to 9, (9) to the 99th degree, had three memory registers, but the most remarkable thing was that it worked with algebraic logic. That is, in order to calculate using the formula 2 + 3 * 5, it was not necessary to first calculate 3 * 5, and then add 2 to the result. This formula could be written in a "natural" form: | 2 | + | 3 | * | 5 | = |. In addition, the calculator used brackets up to eight levels. This calculator is also the only calculator that, along with its desktop brother MK-41, has the /p/ key. This key was used to calculate the formula sqrt (x^2 + y^2).
In 1977, the K145IP11 chip was developed, which gave rise to a whole series of calculators. The very first of these was the very famous calculator B3-26 (in the figure on the right). As with the B3-09M, B3-14 and B3-14M calculators, as well as with the B3-18A and B3-25A, they did the same with it - they removed some functions.
Based on the calculator B3-26, calculators B3-23 with percentages, B3-23A with a square root, B3-24G with memory were made. By the way, the B3-23A calculator later became the cheapest Soviet calculator with a price of only 18 rubles. B3-26 soon became known as MK-26 and its half-brother MK-57 and MK-57A appeared with similar functions.
The Svetlanovsky plant also pleased with its C3-27 model, which, however, did not take root, and it was soon replaced by the very popular and cheap C3-33 (MK-33) model.
Another direction in the development of microcalculators was engineering B3-35 (MK-35) and B3-36 (MK-36). The B3-35 differed from the B3-36 in a simpler design and cost five rubles less. 
These microcalculators were able to convert degrees to radians and vice versa, multiply and divide numbers in memory.
Very interestingly, these calculators calculated the factorial - by simple enumeration. It took more than five seconds to calculate the maximum factorial value of 69 on a B3-35 microcalculator.
These calculators were very popular with us, although they had, in my opinion, some drawback: they showed exactly as many significant digits on the indicator as the instructions say. Usually there are five or six for transcendental functions.
Based on these calculators, a desktop version of the MK-45 was made.
By the way, many pocket engineering calculators have their desktop brothers. These are calculators MK-41 (S3-15), MKSH-2 (B3-30), MK-45 (B3-35, B3-36).
The MKSH-2 calculator is the only "school" calculator produced by our industry, with the exception of large demonstration ones, which will be discussed below. This calculator, like the B3-32 calculator (in the figure on the left), was able to calculate the roots of a quadratic equation and find the roots of a system of equations with two unknowns. By design, this calculator is completely identical to the B3-14 calculator.
A feature of the calculator, except for those described above, is that all the inscriptions on the keys are made according to foreign standards. For example, the key for writing a number to memory was designated not "P" and not "x-> P", but "STO". Calling a number from memory is "RCL".
Despite the ability to work with numbers with higher orders, this calculator used an eight-digit display, the same as in the B3-14. It turned out that if you display a number with a mantissa and an order, then only five significant digits fit on the indicator. To solve this problem, the "CN" key was used in the calculator. If, for example, the result of calculations was the number 1.2345678e-12, then it was displayed on the indicator as 1.2345-12. Clicking | F | CN |, we see on the indicator 12345678. The comma goes out.
Many still remember how once at school they learned to count on wooden abacus, and then they could add and subtract by a column. But not everyone knew and knows now that there was such a Curta mechanical calculator.
This device was used until the time when electronic computers appeared. Despite the fact that it looked more like a small coffee grinder, it was the most convenient and compact pocket calculator. What was great about it was that it did not require any batteries to operate. Making calculations, you just had to turn the knob.
The inventor of this device is Kurt Herzshtark, the son of a Viennese businessman who ran an enterprise that produced high-precision mechanical devices. It was there that the young inventor learned the work of mechanics. Then there were already pocket mechanical calculators, on which you could only subtract and add. Kurt also wanted to create a device that can perform all four actions with numbers. He managed to make his first invention in 1938, but mass production was never established, as the outbreak of the war prevented this.
In 1943, Kurt was arrested for helping Jews. He is in one prison, then another, until he is transferred to the Buchenwald concentration camp. The head of the camp is informed that the one who invented the mechanical calculator has come to them, and he decides that it would be nice to give such a device to the Fuhrer.
Kurt Hertzstark was given a drawing board and ordered to remember the drawing of the calculator. He was able to recreate it from memory, but he failed to make the device, since thanks to American troops in 1945 all the prisoners of the Buchenwald camp were released.
Since Kurt was released with a ready-made set of drawings, already in 1947 he managed to start mass production of a mechanical calculator. At the very beginning, the device was called "Lilliput", but not for long. The name Curta was given to the calculator in 1948, after a trade fair, where one of its participants drew attention to the fact that this machine for Mr. Herzshtark is like a daughter, and the name Curta suits her very well. Since the father-creator is Kurt, then let the “daughter” be Curta.
Curta is the most compact mechanical pocket calculator ever made. 100 grams is the weight of the device. He can not only add, subtract, multiply and divide, but also works with square roots. Two types of Curta mechanical calculators were released: Curta I (11-bit) and Curta II (15-bit), the appearance of which became possible in 1954.
Kurt Herzstark's calculator used an "additional stepped drum" (invented by himself), while other similar devices used a conventional stepped drum or lantern wheel. The “additional stepped drum” was able to perform various arithmetic operations using one algorithm, while the operation of the device was greatly simplified. For example, subtraction could be turned into addition.
Of course, the question arises, how does this happen? It turns out it's very simple. Let's say we need to find out what number we get if we subtract 5847 from 465702.
If we take the Curta I model, then we will have the following:
- 00 000 465702 - decreasing value,
- 00 000 005847 is the value to be subtracted.
Now each digit in the subtracted value needs to be padded to nine - 99,999 994152 (in more detail: 99,999 994152 + 00,000 005847 = 99,999,999,999).
Now, to the value that we got, we add the decreasing value: 99 999 994152 + 00 000 465702 = 100 000 459 854
The digit 1, which does not fall into the 11-digit range, is cut off. The result is one digit shorter, and then the value of the lowest digit is increased by adding one: 00 000459 854 + 00 000 000 001 = 00000459 855 - this is the answer number.
By the way, in modern electronic calculators, subtraction occurs according to exactly the same algorithm, but they use a binary number system.
who invented the calculator? and got the best answer
Answer from Peganov Yuri™[guru]
In 1623, Wilhelm Schickard invented the "Counting Clock" - the first mechanical calculator that could perform four arithmetic operations.
The device was called a counting clock because, like in a real clock, the operation of the mechanism was based on the use of stars and gears. This invention found practical use in the hands of Schickard's friend, the philosopher and astronomer Johannes Kepler.
This was followed by the machines of Blaise Pascal (Pascalina, 1642) and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.
Around 1820, Charles Xavier Thomas created the first successful, mass-produced mechanical calculator, the Thomas Arithmometer, which could add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Basically, it was based on the work of Leibniz. Mechanical calculators counting decimal numbers were used until the 1970s.
1930s - 1960s: Desktop calculators.
By the 1900s, early mechanical calculators, cash registers, and adding machines were redesigned using electric motors, representing the position of a variable as the position of a gear.
From the 1930s, companies such as Friden, Marchant, and Monro began producing desktop mechanical calculators that could add, subtract, multiply, and divide.
The word "computer" (literally - "computer") was called the position - these were people who used calculators to perform mathematical calculations. During the Manhattan Project, future Nobel laureate Richard Feynman was the manager of an entire team of "computers," many of whom were female mathematicians, processing differential equations that were solved for the war effort.
In 1948, the Curta appeared, a small mechanical calculator that could be held in one hand.
In the 1950s - 1960s, several brands of such devices appeared on the Western market.
The first fully electronic desktop calculator was the British ANITA Mk. VII, which used a gas-discharge digital display and 177 miniature thyratrons. In June 1963, Friden introduced the EC-130 with four functions.
It was entirely transistorized, had 13-digit resolution on a 5-inch cathode ray tube, and was marketed by the company for $2,200 in calculators. Square root and inverse functions have been added to the EC 132 model. In 1965, Wang Laboratories produced the LOCI-2, a 10-digit transistorized desktop calculator that used a HID display and could calculate logarithms.
In the Soviet Union at that time, the most famous and widespread calculator was the Felix mechanical adding machine, produced from 1929 to 1978 at factories in Kursk (Schetmash plant), Penza and Moscow.
40 years ago, the electronic calculator revolution greatly expanded the scope of calculators: CASIO Mini became the first calculator available to everyone. Priced at €81.81, the device was affordable for many. Up to this point, often calculators cost around € 511.29, weighed several kilograms and were used only by scientists and accountants. In just ten months, CASIO Mini's shipments reached one million units. Today, CASIO calculators have become part of everyday life in many countries around the world.
The world famous company Casio began its development history in 1946, when Casio Tadao, the late founder of this corporation, opened his small business in Tokyo, calling the company Kashio Seisakujo. At first, this firm was engaged in a small subcontract for a factory for the production of parts and accessories for microscopes. Tadao soon attracted three of his younger brothers to the family business: Yukio, Kazuo and Toshio. All the brothers had engineering and inventive talents by nature, and therefore they immediately felt the technical and commercial potential of the electric calculator, one of the foreign samples of which they saw in 1949 at an exhibition in Tokyo.
Japan at that time lagged behind Western countries in technological development, and therefore could not yet produce electric calculators. Toshio decided to develop an improved model of the electric calculator, replacing the noisy gears and electric motor that were usually installed in devices of this type with an all-electric circuit. In 1956, the Casio brothers created the unique Casio relay calculator. His new electrical relays were resistant to dirt and dust, he had 10 buttons (from 0 to 9) and one display that sequentially displayed the entered numbers during operations on them, and at the end only displayed the answer. It was a revolution in the world of calculating machines, which formed the basis of the path to the compactness of calculators and the convenience of using them at work and in everyday life, because at that time such devices occupied entire rooms. As a result, after seven years of intense development of a new calculator, Casio Computer was founded, which developed and manufactured relay calculators. In June 1957, the world's first compact all-electronic calculator Casio 14-A, which weighed 140 kg, went on sale. Casio immediately became the market leader, deriving high profits from sales of relay calculators to corporations and scientific institutions.
Technological progress moved forward, and in the 60s electronic calculators operating on transistors appeared in the West. The advantages of electronic calculators over relay ones were in their quietness, better performance and small size, which made it possible to place them on the table. In order to keep up with the competition, Casio began to develop and eventually released its Casio 001 desktop electronic calculator in 1965 with built-in memory, which calculators from other manufacturers did not have.
Demand for calculators increased rapidly, and from the mid-60s there was fierce competition in the field of development and marketing in the calculator market. This period until the mid-70s of the XX century was called the "war of calculators".
Casio continued to innovate, and in 1973 the world's first personal calculator Casio Mini was released, which was the size of a palm and a low price, which ensured its huge popularity. Thanks to its developments, Casio has gained a leading position in the market. Its mass production of calculators gave a powerful impetus to Japan's nascent semiconductor industry, and ultimately began the strong growth of the Japanese electronics industry.
Gradually, calculators began to be used in schools. Initially, teachers and parents were skeptical about the use of calculators in school, fearing that students might forget how to count mentally and on a piece of paper. Today, these fears do not arise at all. School calculators have proven to be an effective tool for teaching mathematics. More and more students are using graphing calculators along with pocket and desktop calculators. The benefits are clear: students can easily grasp abstract math concepts when viewed visually on a calculator screen and work more effectively in practical classes. Graphing Calculator performs heavy routine calculations, freeing up more time for individual studies and discoveries.
After such success, the management of Casio decided to develop a new business for themselves - the release of watches. In the 70s, the watch industry experienced a technological revolution, thanks to the development of the quartz movement. The device of the quartz watch had much in common with the Casio electronic calculator, and already in 1974 the Casiotron electronic wrist watch was released. The watch had an LCD digital display, showed hours, minutes, seconds, and automatically determined the number of days in a month and leap years. Such a built-in automatic calendar was unique for that time.
Casio has continued to explore and innovate in nearly every area of the electronics industry, producing a variety of consumer electronics such as calculators, watches, printers, electronic musical instruments, digital cameras and camcorders, electronic organizers, pocket TVs, pagers and mobile phones, computers and PDAs and more.
