Accession No
3684
Brief Description
calculating machine by Marchant, 1942
Origin
Maker
Marchant
Class
calculating
Earliest Date
1942
Latest Date
1942
Inscription Date
Material
metal; plastic
Dimensions
length 385mm; breadth 375mm; height 210mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Transferred from Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, 06/01/1988.
Inscription
‘MARCHANT
BLOCK & ANDERSON
LONDON & DARLINGTON.
BRANCHES
BELFAST-BIRMINGHAM-BRISTOL-CARDIFF
GLASGOW-LIVERPOOL-MANCHESTER-NEWCASTLE’
‘MATHEMATICAL LABORATORY
No. 13’
‘MARCHANT’
Description Notes
Electrically-driven green-coated metal calculator. Red, yellow and green plastic buttons; series of command keys on right side. Top bar with display unit moves horizontally.
Condition good; complete.
References
Events
Description
Calculating machine
A calculating machine could be any machine that adds, subtracts, multiplies or divides. Before about 1820, they were solely produced as marvels and were not sufficiently developed to be of practical use. Direct multiplication was only possible in 1895, and had immediate time-saving application, particularly in the work of insurers and astronomers.
Numbers were represented digitally, with various different methods of entry. Earlier examples usually used rotating wheels with pins protruding. The pins were linked to a weight which fell and registered the number. Later examples were key driven.
18/10/2002
Created by: Saffron Clackson on 18/10/2002
FM:44650
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