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the (abridged) story of Curt Herzstark, the brilliant Viennese engineer who invented an incredibly complex handheld mechanical calculator in the Buchenwald concentration camp
1/?
the (abridged) story of Curt Herzstark, the brilliant Viennese engineer who invented an incredibly complex handheld mechanical calculator in the Buchenwald concentration camp
Unlike the professorial Declan, Ben Diamond looks vaguely menacing, with his shaved head and black leather jacket. It takes innate command presence to pull off a look like that at age seventy-three, but Ben still has it.
Tess Gerritsen • The Spy Coast
By 1938, Hertzstark had applied for patents for his new design and had made a couple of prototypes of the basic mechanism out of Bakelite plastic to demonstrate the principle. Unfortunately, that's as far as he got because in March 1938 the Anschluss took place and Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht marched over the border to annex Austria.
The inside of a... See more
The inside of a... See more
David Szondy • Curta calculator: The mechanical marvel born in a Nazi death camp
Then along came Curt Herzstark, a young man who in the 1920s regularly traveled through the former Austrian Empire selling mechanical calculators to banks and other businesses. It was on these travels that he heard the same complaints from his customers.
David Szondy • Curta calculator: The mechanical marvel born in a Nazi death camp
Thomas Gold was a professor of astrophysics at Cornell University and one of the most interesting scientists of the 20th century. He had a notable penchant for diving into completely new fields and developing hypotheses utterly at odds with the scientific consensus of the day. His many achievements include correcting the understanding of how the... See more
Doomberg • The Other Strategic Reserve
Already in 1926-27 while I was in sales, people said again and again, "Yes, that is nice, but isn't there anything smaller?" This was a time when there was a lot of advertising of the calculating machine. Everyone who was a technician, carried his slide rule. But for calculating, the equivalent didn't exist. People again and again said, "Does... See more
Curt Herzstark • An Interview with Curt Herzstark
"The head of the department, Mr. Munich said, 'See, Herzstark, I understand you've been working on a new thing, a small calculating machine. Do you know, I can give you a tip. We will allow you to make and draw everything. If it is really worth something, then we will give it to the Führer as a present after we win the war. Then, surely, you will... See more
David Szondy • Curta calculator: The mechanical marvel born in a Nazi death camp
An Interview with Curt Herzstark
Curt Herzstark discusses the history of the Austrian Calculating Machine Manufacturing Company, his father's inventions and the development of the CURTA hand-held calculator.
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