Why are tabular calculators almost forgotten
Roger G. Johnson · 2007
The authors’ earlier paper [1] described the development of Ready Reckoners. This paper surveys the development of tabular calculators which were used primarily for multiplication in commerce. Tabular calculators use Ready Reckoner style tables mounted on slides, disks, cylinders or rolls. The relatively disappointing story of most of them and the likely reasons for this are compared with the much more successful computing scales in which the tables are connected to a weighing device. These were very widely used especially in retail premises, for simultaneously weighing and pricing customers’ purchases, and later included pioneering optical projection technology.