 A partially disassembled Curta calculator, showing the digit slides and the steppered drum behind them. The Curta was a small, hand-cranked mechanical calculator introduced in 1948. It had a brilliantly compact design, a small cylinder that fit in the palm of the hand. It could be used to perform addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and with more difficulty square roots and other operations. The Curta's design is a variant of Gottfried Leibnitz's Arithmometer, accumulating values on cogs, which are added or complemented by a steppered drum. Curta mechanical calculator, on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. ...
Curta mechanical calculator, on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. ...
The Computer History Museum in Mountain View. ...
For the community near Martinez, California, see Mountain View, Contra Costa County, California. ...
Image File history File links Curtadsasm. ...
Image File history File links Curtadsasm. ...
A modern basic arithmetic calculator A calculator is a device for performing numerical calculations. ...
1948 (MCMXLVIII) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (July 1, 1646 in Leipzig - November 14, 1716 in Hannover) was a German philosopher, scientist, mathematician, diplomat, librarian, and lawyer of Sorb descent. ...
A mechanical calculator is a device that does computations without the aid of electricity. ...
Cog is a term with several meanings: A part of a gear system A small sailing vessel called a cog (ship) A tenon that extends all the way through another piece of wood, in joinery The evil robots in Toontown Online COG is also an acronym for: Center of gravity...
For other kinds of drums, see drum (disambiguation). ...
The Curta was invented by Curt Herzstark while he was a prisoner in the Buchenwald concentration camp. Herzstark survived the camp, and following the end of WWII he completed and perfected the design. They were made in Liechtenstein by Contina A G Mauren. They were widely considered the best portable calculators available, until they were displaced by electronic calculators in the 1970s. Curt Herzstark was born in 1902 in Vienna, died October 27, 1988 in Nendeln, Liechtenstein. ...
Slave laborers in the Buchenwald concentration camp (Elie Wiesel is second row, seventh from left). ...
Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths {{{notes}}} World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a military conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945. ...
Numbers were entered using slides (one slide per digit) on the side of the device. The revolution counter and result counter appeared on the top. A single turn of the crank would add the input number to the result counter, at any position, and increment the revolution counter accordingly. Pulling the crank out slightly before turning it would perform a subtraction instead of an addition. Multiplication, division, and other functions required a series of crank operations. The Type I Curta had 8 digits of slides, a 6-digit revolution counter, and a 11-digit result counter. The larger Type II Curta, introduced in 1954, had 11 digits of slides, an 8-digit revolution counter, and a 15-digit result counter. 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
An estimated 140,000 Curta calculators were made (80,000 Type I and 60,000 Type II). The last Curta was produced in November, 1970.
The Curta was affectionately known as the "Pepper Grinder" due to its shape and means of operation. It would literally grind out answers.
Use in car rallies
The Curta was popular among contestants in sports car rallies during the 1960s, '70s and into the '80s. Even after the introduction of the electronic calculator for other purposes, they were used in time-speed-distance (TSD) rallies to aid in computation of times to checkpoints, distances off-course, etc. Rallying (international) or rally racing (US) is a form of automobile racing that takes place on normal roads with modified production or specially built road cars. ...
Contestants who used such calculators were often called "Curta-crankers" by those who were limited to paper and pencil, or who utilized computers linked to the car's wheels.
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