physics

Odhner Arithmometer

Odhner Arithmometer is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Odhner Arithmometer rather than just read about it. In short: The Odhner Arithmometer was a very successful pinwheel calculator invented in Russia in 1873 by W. T.

Key takeaways

Odhner Arithmometer belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Odhner Arithmometer to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Odhner Arithmometer from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Odhner Arithmometer was a very successful pinwheel calculator invented in Russia in 1873 by W. T. Odhner, a Swedish immigrant. Its industrial production officially started in 1890 in Odhner's Saint Petersburg workshop. Even though the machine was very popular, the production only lasted thirty years until the factory was nationalised and closed down during the Russian revolution of 1917. From 1892 to the middle of the 20th century, independent companies were set up all over the world to manufacture Odhner's clones and, by the 1960s, with millions sold, it became one of the most successful type of mechanical calculator ever designed.

History

Odhner thought of his machine in 1871 while repairing a Thomas' Arithmometer (which was the only mechanical calculator in production at the time) and decided to replace its heavy, bulky Leibniz cylinder by a lighter, smaller pinwheel disk. This is why the two machines share the same name but look completely different. Odhner developed the first version of his mechanical calculator in 1873. In 1876, he agreed to build 14 machines for Ludvig Nobel, his employer at the time, which he delivered in 1877. He patented his original machine in several countries in 1878–1879 and an improved version of it in 1890. The serial production began with this improved machine in 1890. In 1891, Odhner opened a branch of his factory in Germany. Unfortunately, he had to sell it in 1892 to Grimme, Natalis & Co. because of the difficulty of having two manufacturing facilities so far apart. Grimme, Natalis & Co. started production in Braunschweig and sold their machines under the Brunsviga brand name (Brunsviga is the Latin name of the town of Braunschweig); they became very successful on their own. After Odhner's death, in 1905, his sons Alexander and Georg and son-in-law Karl Siewert continued the production and about 23,000 calculators were made until the factory was nationalized during the Russian revolution and was forced to close down in 1918. This makes the Brunsviga arithmometer, with its 1892 start, the longest-lasting Odhner type calculator in production.

Legacy

Towards the end of 1917, the Odhner family went back to Sweden and restarted the manufacturing of their calculator under the Original-Odhner name. In 1924, the Russian government moved the old production facility to Moscow and commercialized their calculator under the Felix Arithmometer name which went on well into the 1970s. In 1950, with millions of clones manufactured, the Odhner arithmometer was one of the most popular type of mechanical calculator ever made. The number of machines produced increased constantly until the appearance of the electronic calculators in the early 1970s. For instance, the production of one of them, the Felix arithmometer of Russia, peaked in 1969 with 300,000 machines made. Odhner's arithmometer was copied, manufactured and sold by many other companies all over the world. In Germany there was Thales, Triumphator, Walther and Brunsviga. In England there was Britannic and Muldivo. In Sweden Multo and Original-Odhner. In Russia Felix and in Japan Tiger and Busicom which, incidentally, was made famous because Intel created the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004, while designing one of their electronic calculators in 1970.

References

External links John Wolff's web museum - Pin-wheel Calculators rechenmaschinen-illustrated - The Odhner Arithmometer http://odhner.com/kevin/wtodhner/calcs.html Archived 2021-11-21 at the Wayback Machine - Odhner Calculator, Memorial site Arithmetical Machines & Instruments / 19th Century - 1870s patents Guillaume Tello's web page (en) How to use the IMCA, an Italian Odhner machine.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Odhner Arithmometer

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Odhner Arithmometer claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Odhner Arithmometer before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Odhner Arithmometer ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Odhner Arithmometer

In research: Odhner Arithmometer appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Odhner Arithmometer in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Odhner Arithmometer is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Mechanical calculators, Russian inventions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Odhner Arithmometer outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Odhner Arithmometer in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Odhner Arithmometer means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Odhner Arithmometer out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Odhner Arithmometer in simple terms?

The Odhner Arithmometer was a very successful pinwheel calculator invented in Russia in 1873 by W. T.

Why does Odhner Arithmometer matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Odhner Arithmometer?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Odhner Arithmometer.