The exhibits

This is my effort to keep the Slide Rule and the Mechanical Calculator alive.

For this I organize exhibits where slide rule, pascaline and mechanical calculators can be tested by the public.

I think it is useless to teach maths without explaining how calculations were performed before the digital era.

To complete the overview of the ancient technologies, I also prepare exhibits on astronomical navigation and the history of communication.

For a better vision of mathematics my exhibits aims to:

arouse curiosity about slide rule and mechanical calculators;
illustrate their history and use;
demonstrate the need to use computers critically.

To avoid boredom I organize dynamic exhibits, focused in teaching how to use the instruments.

From 2008 I show every year at Cagliari Festival Scienza, an Italian science fair sponsored by the U.N.E.S.C.O., a brief history of computing. The opportunity to try the calculators has made the difference and I have always more than 1,500 visitors. The exibits are suspended from 2019 due to other commitements.

The best compliment I got from a group of young girls who advised everyone: "go to see the old computers, they are so cool". An unexpected success for a boring topic

The stand for calculators and slide rule

Stand for calculators and astro navigation

Was there life before computer? was one of 10 educational projects that have represented Italy at the Science on Stage Europe Festival 2013 and "Old Calculators & Democracy" do the same in 2015.

Cagliari Festivalscienza 2010