Synergy User Manual and Tutorial. - THE CORE MEMORY

Synergy User Manual and Tutorial
1624, Henry Briggs (1561 - 1630) published the first set of modern logarithms, and in
1628, Adrian Vlacq published the first complete set of modern logarithms.
In 1623,
Wilhelm
Schickard (1592
- 1635) invented
what is believed
to be the first
mechanical
calculating
machine (left). This device used a “calculating
clock” with a gear driven carry for mechanism to
calculate the multiplication of multi-digit numbers
in higher order positions. Between 1642 and 1643, at the age of 18, Blaise Pascal (1623 -
1662) created the “Pascaline” (right) a gear driven adding machine, which was the first
mechanical adding/subtracting machine. Pascal developed this machine to help his father
with his work—a tax collector. He discovered how to mechanically carry numbers to the
next high order by causing the higher order gear to advance one tooth for a full rotation
(ten teeth) of the next lower ordered gear. This method is similar to that of old pinball
machines or gas pumps with rotating number counters. These devices were never placed
into commercial service due to high cost of manufacture. Approximately fifty Pascalines
were constructed and could handle calculations with up to eight digits. v
In 1666 Sir Samuel Morland (1625-1695) invented a mechanical calculator that could add
and subtract. This machine was designed for use with English currency but had no
automatic carry mechanism. Auxiliary dials recorded numerical overflows and had to be
re-entered as addends. vi In 1673, Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646 - 1716) designed
a machine called the “Stepped Reckoner” that could mechanically perform all four
mathematical operations using a stepped cylinder gear, though the initial design gave
some wrong answers. This machine was never mass-produced because the high level of
precision needed to manufacture it was not yet available. vii In 1774 Philipp-Matthaus
Hahn (1739 - 1790) constructed and sold a small number of mechanical calculators with
twelve digits of precision.
The advent of the Industrial Revolution, just prior to the start of the nineteenth century,
ushered in a massive increase in commercial activity. This created a great need for
automatic and reliable calculation. Charles Xavier Thomas (1791 - 1871) of Colmar,
France invented the first mass-produced calculating machine, called the Arithmometer
(left) in 1820. His machine used Leibniz’s stepped cylinder as a digital-value actuator.
However, Thomas’ automatic carry system worked in every possible case and was much
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