Terry Foreman on 3 Jun 2016  •  Link

The Calculating Machines of Sir Samuel Morland [with images of them]

Despite of the excellent workmanship of the arithmetic devices of Morland, they were not very useful for practical needs, moreover some of his contemporaries were not so fascinated by their usefulness also. Samuel Pepys (formerly Morland's tutee at Cambridge,) wrote in his 1667-8 years diary, that the machine of Morland is very pretty, but not very useful, while the famous scientist Robert Hooke, wrote in his diary for 31 january, 1673: Saw Sir S. Morland's Arithmetic engine Very Silly. The machines of Morland were, however, appreciated by the King Charles II and Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, which was more important for Morland as a typical courtier–inventor. http://history-computer.com/Mecha…

Terry Foreman on 3 Jun 2016  •  Link

Described in
A new and most useful instrument for addition and subtraction of pounds, shillings, pence, and farthings; : without charging the memory, disturbing the mind, or exposing the operator to any uncertainty; : which no method hitherto published, can justly pretend to. : Invented and presented to His most Excellent Majesty Charles II. King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, &c. 1666.
by S Morland, Sir http://www.worldcat.org/title/new…