Pascaline

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The Pascaline (also known as the arithmetic machine or Pascal's calculator) is a mechanical calculator invented by Blaise Pascal in 1642. It was the first operational mechanical calculator with better tens-carry. Pascal was led to develop a calculator by the laborious arithmetical calculations required by his father's (Étienne Pascal) work as the supervisor of taxes in Rouen, France. He designed the machine to add and subtract two numbers and to perform multiplication and division through repeated addition or subtraction. It used a stylus to perform calculations. There were three versions of his calculator: one for accounting, one for surveying, and one for science. The accounting version represented the livre which was the currency in France at the time. The next dial to the right represented sols where 20 sols make 1 livre. The next, and right-most dial, represented deniers where 12 deniers make 1 sol. Pascal's calculator was especially successful in the design of its carry mechanism...

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