1830s wooden calculator

June 8th, 2007

The strange and beautiful machine shown above is a reconstruction of a mechanical calculator built by mathematician and inventor Thomas Fowler in the 1830s. The orignal machine has long since been lost, and precious few clues to its design and construction exist. Painstaking research by Pamela Vass and David Hogan eventually pieced together enough information to allow them to start building their own machine, aided by Mark Glusker. Together this team were able to construct the first working model of Fowler’s ternary calculating machine in over 150 years.

What I love about story is three-fold: here is a project spread over several years pursued by a small group of everyday people in their own time, fuelled purely by their own passion for the subject and desire to publicise this incredible device. Second, the machine uses an unusual counting system – ternary. The easiest way to describe it is like this: if binary uses two digits, 0 and 1, ternary uses three – 0, 1 and 2. So the numbers one to five would be written: 1, 2, 10, 11, 12. Remember that in Fowler’s day, the decimal currency system was still a long way off, and he had to deal with complicated and awkward calculations involving shillings, farthings and crowns. I imagine this had something to do with his decision to work with a base-3 system. Finally, the machine itself is beautiful and elegant in its construction, a true work of art.

As if that wasn’t enough, the website itself is beautifully laid out, illustrating the history, design and construction of Thomas Fowler’s calculator with a clarity and concision that makes me green with envy. Top marks all round, Science Punks! (link)

Entry Filed under: Science Punks