Download my history of the calculating instruments in pdf (English)
Innovative Thinking & Traditional Values
Modern world was designed with slide rule and mechanical calculator.
Still the youth ignore these instruments that anticipated our technology. I believe it's pointless to teach math without explaining how calculations were performed in the past.
With my free e-book "Was There Life Before Computer?" the teachers can effortlessly demonstrate the outdated computing systems.
To maintain the legacy of the slide rule, pascaline, and mechanical calculator, I arrange international lectures and exhibitions where the historical devices can be experienced by the audience.
I had also included displays on the history of communications and navigation prior to GPS.
I believe it's essential for an advanced society to preserve the memory of past technologies and the skills needed to manage them: no tree can survive without roots.
The objective is to prevent mental dependency: ignoring the traditional knowledge, people must blindly trust the new one, overestimating the reliability of results that they are incapable of judging.
The site previews the book's contents. To find specific information, use the internal search engine.
A brief history of engineering before the computer era (English)
Boring exhibits leave no trace
My work has always been interactive, allowing the public to touch ancient instruments (or their replicas) in an interactive environment. Today I consider essential to re-propose tactile experiences, otherwise the public will prefer the more comfortable virtual exhibitions. One step back to move forward!
The exhibitions took place in London, Berlin, San Francisco, Slubice, Trento etc, and from 2007 until 2018 at The Cagliari Festival Scienza. One of my most important programs has twice represented Italy at the international educational fair Science on Stage.
A brief history of communications through the posters of my exhibit (Italian)
A brief history of the old navigation and the Melting Factor exhibit (Italian)
Analog & Digital Computing
The antique calculating devices can be classified into two categories: analog slide rules , which handle all scientific computations apart from addition and subtraction, and digital mechanical calculators, able to execute just the four operations.
History of mechanical calculator and slide rule (English). Hackaday`s review
The Slide Rules
In analog calculations, numerical quantities are represented by physical quantities, and the operation is simulated by analogy. These calculators are typically composed of two or more sliding rulers graduated with logharitmic scales.
The operations 2x4=8; 4x2=8; 8:4=2; 8:2=4 on logarithmic scales
The analog slide rule , invented in 1632, provides an accuracy of about 3 significant figures, resulting in an error of approximately 0.1% to 0.5%. This calculator, which remained in use for ca 350 years, was used to design the first steam engines and the engines of the Saturn-V, the lunar launch vehicle.
For astronomical calculations, logarithmic tables with precision up to 7 decimal places were used, but they were slow to use.
Earth, ca 1819: the inventor Joshua Routledge and his slide rule
Moon, 1969: the astronaut Buzz Aldrin and his slide rule
The Mechanical Calculators
Mechanical digital calculators, invented in 1645, are unable to execute complex calculations and were utilized for accounting tasks.
They are divided into subcategories based on their mechanism and are "digital" in a different way than today.
The concept of a binary calculator was hypothesized as early as 1600. It wasn't until 1900 that it was realized, but the seed had been planted, and modern computers derive from this intuition.
Mechanical calculator: very similar the models of 1645 and 1965
Pocket adding machines, 1870 - 1890 - 1980
Big semiautomatic calculators, 1895 - 1970
The End of an Era
It was difficult to imagine a world without them, yet in 1972, the arrival of the first modern calculator led to the rapid disappearance of slide rules and mechanical calculators. Leibniz's long-held aspiration materialized:
"It is unworthy of excellent men to lose hours like
slaves in the labor of calculation which could be
relegated to anyone else if machines were used"
The shift occurred quickly but was not without challenges, and in the 70s educators still banned electronic calculators in the classroom, claiming they numbed the intellect.
Nowadays, used to constant updates, it is hard to grasp this reluctance to change. New electronic devices were not fully trusted, and numerous manufacturers added a traditional tool alongside the new calculators to ensure they worked properly
Faber TR3 calculator with a sliderule on the back, 1975
By this time, though, the emerging technologies demanded greater computing power, leading Sharp to introduce the first mini computer: the PC era was born.
In 1979, Sharp still kept the verification abacus, but...
...in 1982 it was able to present the pocket computer!
Was there life before computer? educational project has
represented Italy at the Science on Stage Europe Festival 2013
Innovative thinking & traditional values
Nowadays people punch numbers into a keyboard and expect the calculator to provide the correct answer. The Art of Numeracy is no longer practiced and the world before computers almost forgotten.
Mathematics is currently learned without knowledge of its history, a false start. With a calculator, modified to give incorrect results, I demonstrate how easy a student can make errors withoute notice.
Is the operation shown accurate? Check if the result is correct
Electronic should not be unconditionally trusted, we must comprehend and evaluate our actions. Software might contain bugs and the results need to be carefully analyzed.
Previously, with the traditional calculating devices, the operators remained conscious of their actions and routinely verified the outcomes.
Nowadays, numerous individuals believe, "I don't have to verify, the computer understands better than I do". Unfortunately, the belief that "if an expert says it, it has to be true" is the foundation of the Authority Principle, resulting in psychological enslavement.
We'll believe anythings (if it lets us be lazy ...) @ Andy Singer
Promoting the traditional calculating methods as a mean of democracy might seems overstated, but it is impossible to live as a free citizen if we are unaware of our actions or reclutant to discuss them.
It's no coincidence that democracy originated in the same nation where mathematics and geometry emerged: unthinking use of the computer can result in pressing buttons mindlessly.
Scientific thinking and independence of ideas are not a natural product of intelligence, they must be cultivated steadily. A simple lesson about traditional calculation may help. A rational mind produces better decisions, better citizens and a better world.
Didactics: teach, inspire, delight
Our crest Dried Roots Do Not Bear Fruits and an exposition table
Little ones are intrigued: if Tom Cat does it, they can do it too!
Best staff = best show!
Download the templates of: E6B, slide rule, nomograms, abaques (English)
About Me
We, the collectors
The power of objects regulates our lives in this faltering era, they become the consolation capable of absorbing all our anxieties about time and death: some thoughts on owning and collecting.
The collectors`nightmare: possessed by possessions! (English)
IM 2016
Nicola Marras Manfredi and Wolfgang Irler coordinated the 22nd Oughtred Society International Meeting at the MUSE Science Museum in Trento, Italy, from September 16 to 18, 2016
The theme takes its inspiration from comparing extinct species to the lost technology of mechanical calculators, worthy to be collected, analyzed, and used to explain its evolution.
Consequently, the actual collector may be considered as having equal rights to a paleontologist who digs for fossil remains, rummaging in forgotten cellars and flea-markets. What someone had thrown away became the collector's treasure.
Download the congress proceedings (English) or visit the dedicated page
Upcoming Events
The magic lanterns collection (Italian)
Essential Library
For those who want to approach the world of analogue calculations, there is nothing better to read than Collecting Slide Rules and All About Slide Rules, both free by the Oughtred Society.
At the International Slide Rule Museum we find a library, where numerous texts and instructions can be downloaded for free. An excellent slide rule seminar is also available at the ISRM.
Links
David`s Calculating Sticks - Slide Rule Shop - Nathan Zeldes - Rod`s Slide Rules