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The Curta Calculator
A recommendation by ScienceWannabe
ScienceWannabe's recommendation
First to recommend
A small Internet religion surrounds this achingly elegant jewel of mid-century engineering. Like the Shakers, this religion doesn't reproduce, but you have to appreciate the perfection of their deity, nevertheless. The Curta calculator is basically a hand-crank babbage machine that surveyors and other mathematicians on the go bought from ads in Scientific American after World War Two. A 100% mechanical calculator you could wear on your belt, it was built for portability, mechanical precision and "ease of use," a phrase that had more to do with the smooth clickety-click of the apparatus than with the training you would need to do to learn how to use it (be prepared to spend a little while). Nobody's ever manufactured anything like it before or since, and there aren't all that many left in the world, so good luck finding one in good shape and at a reasonable price.
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Updated Nov 17, 2006
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