Caption from the video:
How and why I built a mechanical calculator. Basing it on the Arithmometer, I built this calculator by hand out of mostly plywood. I suspect it is the first of its kind built in over 100 years. Working on and off, it took me 8 years.
I wonder how it compares with an abacus, in terms of practicality and accuracy. Never used one or the other…
Accuracy is probably equal. You need an operator who knows how to use it, but once you do they can accurately do calculations.
As for practicality, I’ve seen abacuses…abaci? Abaca? Abacapodes? range in size from ~a textbook to ~a smart phone. In basically any case you can hold one in one hand and manipulate it in the other. Some rods, some beads and a frame, you could improvise an abacus pretty easily. There are different implementations of abaceaux but you can usually add, subtract, multiply (and thus do exponents), divide, square root and cube root. With a simple to build, easily portable device.
His machine, at a glance, reminds me of a Babbage difference engine. It’s the size of a steamer trunk and is full of gears, chains, wheels and linkages. Looks complicated to build and impossible to improvise, though it might be easier to train someone how to use it. The method of operation reminds me a little bit of a Curta calculator, which has a similar “put your numbers in with sliders and then turn the crank to math them” interface, but a Curta is half the size of a beer can. Intricate and expensive but functional.
Upvote for abacapodes!
I’d upvote for content too, but I only get one. ;-)
You did this?
I’ve edited the post title to make it more clear that it’s the title from the video
@otters_raft @girlonthenet but… how does the ripple carry work?
@otters_raft @girlonthenet ah… the adding columns are slightly rotated relative to each other so they can perform the additions in sequence lowest-to-highest.
