The Curta Calculator: Cranking Out The Answer

An amazing piece of machinery and engineering, the Curta calculator was thought of as one of the best portable calculators available until electronic calculators became affordable (and just portable for that mater). Conceived by Curt Herzstark in the thirties, he continually worked on perfecting the design for almost 2 decades (including the time he spent in a concentration camp). Elegant and small, the Curta is a marvel. It is even more amazing once one views the interior workings. Unfortunately for curious owners reassembling the calculator is almost as impressive a feat as its creation. To operate, numbers are entered using the slides and then the calculating is performed by cranking the top a specific number of times. Different math functions are achieved by adjusting the crank and carriage position. The Curta calculator is a part in the origin of the phrase "cranking out the answer" due to the fact it requires one to actually crank the top of the device to produce the answer.

Anything you would want to know about the Curta can be found at the very excellent Curta Calculator Page (http://www.vcalc.net/cu.htm#nice) and a great demo video on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYsOi6L_Pw4).