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Download my history of the calculating instruments in pdf (English) Intro The modern world was designed with slide rule and mechanical calculator conceived in the 17th centuryStill the youth ignore these slide rule that anticipated our technology. I think it's useless to teach math without teaching how calculations were made in the past.With my free e-book "Was There Life Before Computer?" the teachers can easily illustrate the old computing systems.To preserve the memory of the slide rule, the pascaline and the mechanical calculator, I organize national and international exhibitions and conferences, where the ancient instruments could be tested by the public.The project is now suspended due to other commitments. To better understand the old technology I had also added exhibits on the history of communications and pre-GPS navigation. All programs still available in Italian and English. The exhibits were presented in London, Berlin, San Francisco, Poznań, Slubice, Trento etc., as well as every year from 2007 until 2018 at The Cagliari Festival Scienza.
Short history of engineering before computers (English)
The mechanical calculator, the slide rule, astro navigation, crittography
Aeronautical E6B, slide rule, nomograms, abaques
Presentation of the exhibition on communications (Italian)
Presentation of the exhibition on pre-GPS navigation (Italian) The modern computer has been built on these ancient instruments, conceived in the 17th century, that seemed irreplaceable. Galileo's compass was still useful on board aircraft carriers, the mechanical calculator and the pascaline were the driving force of the financial globalization. The slide rule, invented in 1622, served to design everything: from the James Cook's flagship to the Jumbo Jet!
Everard slide rule, 1663
The slide rule with Buzz Aldrin on the Apollo 11 It was Leibniz's dream come true:
"It is unworthy of excellent men to lose hours like No invention ever made such a rapid impact. The automobile took more than twenty to establish itself. Electronics instead instantly defeated the competition. An unprecedented revolution.
Pascaline, 1940: patented in 1645 and produced for 300 years However, the transition was not painless because the ancient computers were used in every field. People had little faith in the new "electronic slide rule" and the factories inserted the old instrument on the back, for the sake of safety.
Sharp solar powered calculator with abacus, 1980 By now, however, the new technologies required computing power: shortly after Sharp presented the first mini computer, almost pocket-sized. The PC era was beginning.
Sharp PC 1500 programmable computer with printer, 1982 A little investigation revealed to me that, for many students, the result of 2 + 3 x 4 is 20, not 14! With the slide rule, however, the pupils immediately recognize the order of the operations. The ascaline helps the little ones to easily understand addition and carry-over.
Was there life before computer? educational project has Old Calculators & Democracy Today people punch numbers into a calculator and expect the calculator to provide the correct answer, the Art of Numeracy is no longer practiced and the world before computers almost forgotten. Now students learn mathematics while being illiterate about the history of mathematics, which is a false start. With a calculator, modified to give incorrect results, I show how easy one can make and no notice errors.
The operation that appears on the display is correct? The electronic aids should not blindly be trusted. We need to understand and criticize what we do. Software could be buggy and the computer results have to be critically reviewed. In the past, with the old calculating devices, the operators were always aware of their actions and used to check the results. Today instead many people think "I don't need to check, the computer knows better than me". Sadly, the thinking that "if an expert states it, then it must be true" is the basis of the Authority Principle, which leads to mental slavery.
We'll believe anythings (if it lets us be lazy ...) @ Andy Singer Teaching the traditional calculating instruments as a school of democracy may seem an overstatement, but nobody can be a free citizen if unaware of what he does or willing to discuss it. Not by chance democracy was born in the same country in which maths and geometry were born,. Uncritical use of the computer can lead people to press 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.
Old Computing & New Generations
"Old Calculators & Democracy" educational project has
Even the little ones take an active interest:
Best staff best show! The slide rule today Analog calculators are disappearing from the market, the reliability and battery life of the new electronic models leaves no room. But in extreme conditions they are still used: they resist almost any temperature and are virtually indestructible as well as requiring no energy. An aeronautical E6B you can leave it in the freezer for a month, then boil it, throw it out of the window and then leave it in the sea at a depth of 100 meters: you recover it, drive over it with a car and it will always be perfectly functional! Furthermore, it is still difficult to build electronic equipment well protected against radiation. Their time is running out, however: read this article.
About this site As obvious, I carry out my project in Italy and and this translation is much smaller than the original. However, here you will find a summary of my book on the history of the calculating instruments and all my educational material. My works are provided under the terms of the Creative Commons License "BY-NC-SA 3.0". The contents were largely produced by myself but there is also material owned by third parties and another was taken in the network, apparently of public domain. In general I applied for authorization to use, which unfortunately is not always possible. In any case is always shown on the author's name and a link to his personal website: if the name of the owner is not present must be considered the author as unknown to me. If someone noticed that, unbeknownst to me, there is in this work copyrighted material is encouraged to communicate it to me, so I can properly cite the intellectual property or remove it. It is my intention to apply all the rules in force on the legal protection of intellectual property.
Download my history of the calculating instruments in pdf Links
Alte Rechenhilfen Prehistoria informatica David's calculating sticks
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