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2000 BCE
The Abacus
The very first calculators used were mechanical calculators that involved using beads that ran along rods. The abacus was first used by the Sumerians and the Egyptians around 2000 B.C. -
The Slide Rule
The Slide Rule is a mechanical calculator that first appeared in Europe. It used sliding components with scales on it to allow for fast calculations. The ability to use this tool was required even up to the 1980s. -
Four-Function Arithmometer
It was a counting machine that could perform the 4 basic functions in math: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. -
The Comptometer
In 1887 was the first push-key driven calculator, introducing calculators to the push-button age. It was patented in the US by Dorr. E. Felt. -
The ENIAC
Stands for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer. It was a completely digital artillery firing table generator. It was enormous, weighing in at 27 tons and taking up 1800 sq feet and took the amount of power it takes to power a small town. -
The Curta Calculator
This calculator was a very small and compact "Pocket Calculator" that included the 4 main math functions. It first appeared in 1948. -
The ANITA
Stands for "A New Inspiration To Arithmetic/Accounting" It was made in 1961 and was the first desktop calculator to be purely electronic. -
Transistor Based Calculators
Calculators began to revolutionize as they started utilizing a newer electrical component called a transistor that was downsized. The transistor is one of the electrical components that make calculating possible. With its smaller size, calculators will be made smaller, and faster, and have higher potential. -
The "Sharp's QT-8D Micro Compet"
This calculator was the first to use compact chips with 900 transistors each. In the past this would have taken a lot of space up, but now it can fit in the palm of your hand. -
Semi-Conductor Transistors
Then it was discovered that silicon could be used as a semi-conductor to make electronic components extremely compact. this allowed many new designs and innovations within the calculator world. In 1969, the first calculator to use this micro technology was invented, the "Sharp's QT-8D Micro Compet." -
Present
Now calculators are everywhere. Most mobile devices has the ability to run a calculator app. This is because even phones have computing chips inside of them. They are up to 1300 times as powerful as the ENIAC, which weighed around 27 tons. And a phone on average only weighs about 4 ounces. The Samsung SCH-A850 flip phone is a phone that is still available today and uses one of these chips, but smart phones have even more power. -
Future Calculator
I think in the future we will utilize quantum mechanics to produce a faster and more powerful calculator that takes up less space. I have made a design that uses quantum computing mechanics.
