The Millionaire Calculator
Encyclopedia
The Millionaire calculator was the first commercially successful mechanical calculator
that could perform a direct multiplication. It was in production from 1893 to 1935 with a total of about five thousand machines manufactured.
.
, the Odhner arithmometer
or the comptometer
were adding machines and they implemented multiplication by continued addition under operator control. This machine required only one turn of the crank handle to multiply the number entered on the sliders by a multiplier number. This was accomplished by creating a mechanical representation of the multiplication table which could be read and used by the machine.
This machine was very big and heavy and occupied an entire desk. Its size made it awkward to operate.
It was commercialized as "The Millionaire" in English speaking countries, "La Millionnaire" in French and "Millionär" in German speaking countries.
Mechanical calculator
A mechanical calculator is a device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic. Mechanical calculators are comparable in size to small desktop computers and have been rendered obsolete by the advent of the electronic calculator....
that could perform a direct multiplication. It was in production from 1893 to 1935 with a total of about five thousand machines manufactured.
History
Designed by Otto Steiger, a Swiss engineer, it was first patented in Germany in 1892. Patents were issued in France, Switzerland, Canada and the USA in 1893. The production which started in 1893 was handled by Hans W. Egli of ZürichZürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
.
Competition
All mechanical calculators commercialized prior to the Millionaire, like the arithmometerArithmometer
An Arithmometer or Arithmomètre was a mechanical calculator that could add and subtract directly and could perform long multiplications and divisions effectively by using a movable accumulator for the result. Patented in France by Thomas de Colmar in 1820 and manufactured from 1851 to 1915, it...
, the Odhner arithmometer
Odhner Arithmometer
The Odhner Arithmometer was a very successful pinwheel calculator invented in Russia in 1873 by W. T. Odhner, a Swedish immigrant. Its industrial production officially started in 1890 in Odhner's Saint Petersburg workshop...
or the comptometer
Comptometer
The comptometer was the first commercially successful key-driven mechanical calculator, patented in the USA by Dorr E. Felt in 1887.A key-driven calculator is extremely fast because each key adds or subtracts its value to the accumulator as soon as it is pressed and a skilled operator can enter all...
were adding machines and they implemented multiplication by continued addition under operator control. This machine required only one turn of the crank handle to multiply the number entered on the sliders by a multiplier number. This was accomplished by creating a mechanical representation of the multiplication table which could be read and used by the machine.
This machine was very big and heavy and occupied an entire desk. Its size made it awkward to operate.
It was commercialized as "The Millionaire" in English speaking countries, "La Millionnaire" in French and "Millionär" in German speaking countries.
External links
- John Wolff's Web Museum An in-depth technical description of The Millionaire calculator.
- Arithmetical Machines & Instruments / 19th Century