A new book about the history of the pocket calculator

[BobVA]

(05-29-2023 10:55 PM)Steve Simpkin Wrote:  "Pocket-sized calculators ushered in modern mathematics, helped build the atomic bomb, took us to the bottom of the ocean, and accompanied us to the moon." ???

Odd since the electronic calculator I think of as a “pocket calculator” had nothing to do with any of those things. Perhaps the author considered the slide rule or another type of small mechanical calculator like the Curta as a “pocket calculator”.

Just got my copy today and indeed that's the case. He was referring to the slide rule (pp 75-76 for the atomic bomb and Apollo at least).

I was trying to guess which name familiar to me would pop up first, and whether I would have any books by or about them.

I didn't have to read far - just to page two. Much to my surprise it wasn't Leibniz or Napier, but Dr. Irene Pepperberg, who studies animal cognition. And I do have a book by her, a much valued asset in the decades-long battle of wits I've been losing with my parrot. An unexpected synchronicity. :-)