Curta Calculator

Thought I would do an 'infoblip' today as no chance to get any outdoor photography in.

For those of you who have only ever seen electronic calculators this is a hand mechanical calculator, and more specifically a Curta Type 2 calculator. This was left to me by my mother and it is a thing of beauty. The story behind the Curta calculator is fascinating as the inventor, Curt Herzstark, actually worked on it's design in Buchenwald concentration camp. Production of the Type I Curta was started in 1947 and the improved, Type 2, in 1954. My Curta has the serial number 500691 which makes it a pretty early example manufactured in 1954. The engineering inside this device is incredibly intricate and amazingly robust. This unit still works flawlessly after 55 years of use. It's also more accurate than many modern electronic calculators as it has a 11-digit input.

If you would like to see how these work here is a simulation.