Excerpt:
The history of mathematics goes a long way back with devices and methods of calculation. Starting with the ancient Abacus, the slide rule and the logarithms, the mechanical calculating machines, the electromechanical calculators and finally the electronic computer.
This site deals mainly with the mechanical calculating machines from a collector's point of view. I hope you enjoy this site and find it as useful as many other cyberspace citizens have.
Annotation:
This site, established by a collector and written from a collector's point of view (and written for a general audience), examines mainly mechanical calculating machines. A brief history with several photographs describes the origin and development of the calculating machine from its invention by Blaise Pascal to the twentieth century. There is a classification scheme (7 rough types) and photographs of representative models, as well as 6 classic advertisements for calculating machines from the 1930s to the 1950s. Short essays contain several other photographs of machines. In addition, an applet lets you simulate the operation of a 1885 Felt &Tarrant "Comptometer" adding machine. An extensive list of links (over 40 entries) takes the visitor to other sites on the history of calculating machines, and a bibliography lists important printed works on the subject.